


No More Running

by sottovoce81



Series: A Fresh Start [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Emissary Stiles Stilinski, Evil Jennifer Blake, I think I made Derek's past somehow...MORE tragic??!, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Jennifer Blake is the Darach, M/M, Magical Stiles Stilinski, Mentioned Kate Argent, Minor Melissa McCall/Sheriff Stilinski, Past Jennifer Blake/Derek Hale, Scott McCall is a Good Alpha, Sheriff Stilinski Knows About Werewolves, Sheriff Stilinski is a Good Parent, Sheriff Stilinski's Name is John, Single Parent Derek Hale, Slow Build Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, What Have I Done
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-23
Updated: 2017-11-23
Packaged: 2019-02-05 20:47:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 18
Words: 49,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12802050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sottovoce81/pseuds/sottovoce81
Summary: Derek was exhausted. He was covered in baby tears, baby snot, baby spit-up, and his kids were still crying. Still. They had been driving for nearing nine hours now, with only short stops to feed and change the baby and to let Caleb pee at gas stations. If he had thought he had time to stop longer and let the kids have a break, he would have. As much for himself as for them. Nine hours of driving and they were finally getting close. Safety was across the line some thirty miles ahead.They were almost to Beacon Hills.He hoped to find a safe place with the new Pack that had taken over his uncle's old territory. New York wasn't home anymore. It might not even be safe anymore, even though Jennifer was dead. She couldn't hurt his kids ever again.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I set out to write some darn fanfic for NaNo2016, ended up finishing this story during camp-nano2017. I did NOT intend to make myself cry by making Derek's tragic past worse than before, but alas we don't always intend to write what we write.
> 
> There are very oblique comments referring to past Kate/Derek. In this story she did set the fire, but I don't think there were any actual mentionings of her seducing Derek at the time. If I get around to writing a sequel or three, then that may come up, or I may ease his backstory a bit and hand-wave the fire into more a violent crime committed seemingly randomly. Not sure yet.
> 
> Derek's past with Jennifer Blake however is bad in this story. Very bad. I don't think I made any explicit scenes of them together, but their entire relationship prior to this fic was based on her coercing him into being in a relationship with her so she could give birth to a werewolf child for a spell. At one point Derek tells someone he remembers having sex with her and just lying in bed letting her do what she wanted because he 'couldn't feel anything.' That sums up most of their relationship. She dampens his everything and makes it so he doesn't notice anything is wrong until it's too late. Just know, she is a horrible horrible person, and has possibly forced her body to miscarry two fetuses because they were not going to be werewolves. Derek realizes this possibility about halfway through the fic and is extremely upset about it.
> 
> The fic does deal with Derek and company accepting the fact that Stiles is a magic user "like Jennifer." But he is not a druid like her, and of course he is not evil.
> 
> I tried to steer away from the Overbearing Laura trope, but she admittedly is a bit pushy about Derek taking interest in Stiles. This is less due to her thinking she can run Derek's life and due more to her freaking out because Jennifer almost had her killed and here Derek goes dating another magic user who can hurt him again. Sorry if you hate her. If / when I write a sequel, Laura will have adjusted much more to the idea of Stiles being in their lives.
> 
> Final warning, the slow build is like hella slow. Sorry folks. They do not get married in the end of this...! haha This is more of a first installment of a series. We're talking a slow build in this one. Hopefully it makes someone out there happy.

Derek was exhausted. He was covered in baby tears, baby snot, baby spit-up, and his kids were still crying. Still. They had been driving for nearing nine hours now, with only short stops to feed and change the baby and to let Caleb pee at gas stations. 

And hadn’t that been a fun adventure? Wiggling the baby out of the car seat, packing up the diaper bag contents that inevitably fell out of the bag and onto the car’s carpet floor, then hurriedly rushing Caleb into the restroom without losing track of car keys, baby pacifier (which with teething going on was a definite must) and the entire diaper bag that always followed little Maisy out of the car.

If he had thought he had time to stop longer and let the kids have a break, he would have. As much for himself as for them. Nine hours of driving and they were finally getting close. Safety was across the line some thirty miles ahead.

“Dad?”

He glanced in the rearview, and noted the little frown on Caleb’s face, eyebrows scrunched. “What is it, buddy?”

“I gotta pee again.”

Why had he let his kid have that juice box an hour ago? Derek kept the sigh to himself though and looked around. They were in the middle of nowhere, thirty miles from the nearest town. On either side, there were only trees and grass. No gas stations, pit stops, or roadside diners in sight.

“Can you hold it?” he asked, though he already knew.

“Um…”

This time Derek did sigh. “All right. We’re pulling over.”

Caleb shifted around in his seat, looking out every window. “Where?”

“Here,” Derek answered, already slowing and pulling the car to the shoulder. He stopped it as close to a crop of trees as he could get. He wanted to get back in the car as quickly as he could. They were almost to Beacon Hills. Another thirty minutes, and they would arrive.

As soon as the car came to a full stop (and not a moment sooner, thank you) Caleb was slinging his seat belts open and practically vaulting from the car seat. Derek moved at a slightly slower pace, coming around the side to unlock Maisy from her seat. Fortunately she was asleep, because she did not like the process of getting in and out of that thing one bit. He lifted his sleeping daughter from the seat, and settled her on his chest in a practiced move that kept her from waking up.

“Come on, pup,”

Caleb springboarded off the ledge of the car floor and onto the grass, making a whooshing noise as he flew past. Fortunately, this time he didn’t also slap Maisy or his father on his way through the air--which had happened plenty of times before.

“Walking feet,” Derek reminded his son, again.

The kid only began speed-walking in place. “Where are we peeing? There’s a bird on that tree.”

“You’re the one peeing,” Derek said mildly, “and you can do it here in the grass.”

That scandalized Caleb so much that he actually stopped moving for a moment to focus. “Here? But we’re right by the road. What if someone drives by?”

Derek didn’t bother to explain that they hadn’t seen any cars for the last fifty miles. He also didn’t explain that their own car would have hidden everything from view. It wasn’t worth the argument. “Let’s go,” he said, motioning to the trees. “You can pee safely in there.”

“On a tree?” Now his son sounded delighted. “Like a dog? A dog pup! I can be a dog pup even if I can’t be a wolf pup!” And Caleb took off at a run.

Derek held the baby a little more carefully and hurriedly walked after him. “Not far into the trees, Caleb! Just behind this first one is fine.”

“I’m peeing on the bird’s tree, Dad!” Then his son let out his best growl.

Derek shook his head and resigned himself to this adventure. They would get to Beacon Hills eventually.

“Dad, look at this other tree! It looks like a wiggly old man!”

Hopefully.


	2. Chapter 2

When Derek came back out of the trees to his car, (after they had looked at a strange tree, found three interesting rocks, and startled a frog) he was surprised to see another car stopped right behind their own. It was a Sheriff’s vehicle, belonging to Beacon Hills, though he wasn’t sure why they were out this far from town. The officer didn’t notice them right away, busy peering into the car.

Derek felt himself tense up. He hadn’t been listening to the road, too busy making sure his son didn’t launch himself into a tree never to climb back down. (It had happened. Long story short, Caleb liked to climb trees, but hadn’t yet learned how to get back down from them.) He didn’t exactly like surprises. But he tried to remember not to glare. He’d been told it made him look like a serial killer. Nobody wanted to look like a serial killer when they had two kids with them.

The officer noticed them only a beat after Caleb noticed him, with a soft gasp. He turned and smiled a very polite, small-town smile. He was middle-aged, and had a nice enough smile, but Derek could see the way he checked over all three of them, noting the picture each one of them made. “Oh good. I saw the car pulled to the side, and well…” he motioned at the Sheriff’s badge on his shirt, “couldn’t just drive by without making sure everything was all right. It made me a little nervous to see a baby seat and no baby,” he added.

Derek came to a stop several feet from the man, enough space for him to pick up Caleb and run if he had to. “Thank you, officer. We just had to stretch our legs for a moment.”

The sheriff gave a short nod, still smiling, though now a little more genuinely. “I’ve got a kid of my own. I know how that goes. As memory serves, I once had to stop nine times for a one-hour trip to the next town over.”

Caleb chose that moment to curl in against Derek’s leg and whisper-yell, “He’s got a gun, Daddy.”

Derek pressed a hand to his soft brown head, hoping it would shush him. “Yeah, son. I see that. It’s okay.”

“But, Dad…! Guns do bad things. They hurt you!”

Derek winced his way into a smile at the Sheriff. “Sorry, sir. We’ve had to discuss the ‘guns are dangerous’ topic and you can see it’s stuck.”

The man chuckled a little bit. “Not to worry. Guns can do some damage,” he said, looking to Caleb, “but they can also help us scare the bad guys away.”

Caleb’s heartbeat jolted. “But Daddy’s not a bad guy!”

His shrill cry was what saved the moment, because it woke Maisy. And suddenly Derek had a screaming one-year-old to deal with on top of his already freaking out son. With one arm, Derek bounced the baby, pressing a kiss to her head, and with the other he pulled his son in closer, rubbing his back to keep him from saying any more.

Fortunately, the sheriff didn’t try and discuss any more. He just inclined his head with a little huff of amusement that Derek couldn’t help but feel was more empathetic than entertained. “Sorry to bother you,” he said as he stepped back towards his patrol car.

Derek waited for the car to pull back into the road and on its way before he dropped to a knee and pulled his now-sobbing son into his chest. Then his kids added more snot and tears to his shirt, which was way past needing a wash already.


	3. Chapter 3

After Derek got his kids calmed down and back into the car, they fell asleep quickly and left him in blessed silence for the last thirty miles into Beacon Hills. He hadn’t been to the town in years, not since he last visited his uncle who had lived there several years back. His family still owned a plot of land in the nature preserve on the edge of town. That’s where they were going to stay, but for now, Derek wasn’t quite ready to go straight to their house. He didn’t have food, or bedding, or any of those necessary things that make a house a home.

He hadn’t exactly had time to pack carefully before leaving New York.

So he drove to the first motel he could find that didn’t look like it would be too dirty, though he knew he would regret the horror his poor nose would endure by staying in a motel. Fortunately, Caleb was human and wouldn’t notice, and Maisy was still so young that her senses weren’t really fully developed or consistently tracking.

Werewolf children usually didn’t manifest heightened senses until at least two or three years of age, but Maisy had manifested on the night of her first birthday, two weeks ago. And Derek had an idea why, but it wasn’t a good one. Frankly, he wasn’t sure what to do about it, so he tried not to think about it. In the last two weeks, her eyes had flashed every now and then when she was really upset. But he hadn’t seen any tiny baby claws or fangs yet (thank god!) Caleb was already trying to train her to flash her eyes on command. If he saw the claws or teeth, she would never get a moment alone from him.

When they pulled into the motel parking lot, both kids were asleep, and for just a moment, Derek let himself simply sit in his seat and not worry. They were in Beacon Hills. Derek would track down the Alpha tomorrow, and if he let them stay, they would go check out the house on the Preserve. If the Alpha kicked them out of the territory (which Derek wasn’t expecting to happen--it was a young pack, ready and able to expand, it sounded like) then they would be on their way. The kids would hate it, but he hadn’t actually told them they were going to try and stay here anyway. He didn’t want to get their hopes up in case he had to pass through. If this failed, they would be on their way to South America. Either way, he hoped that they would have a home soon. Maisy was well on her way to being aware of her surroundings, and she wouldn’t miss the fact that they had no territory if she was really manifesting her wolf so soon. Caleb was missing his friends from school, and he wouldn’t last much longer with only his father and baby sister for company; they were due for a breakdown any hour now.

Derek fell asleep that night with plans to restock their diapers and kid snacks. He hoped the Alpha wouldn’t take long before contacting them. If he was going to have to take his kids all the way to South America, he didn’t want to waste his time and money here.

 

_______________

 

Caleb woke his father up by jumping onto his back--knees first. Derek was grateful for the millionth time that he was a werewolf and would heal any bruises inadvertently formed by six-year-old knees to his spine. “Daddy, Maisy is hungry. And I am too. Can we make pancakes?”

“We don’t have a kitchen,” Derek grunted back, eyes still mostly closed. “But help me find the bottle and formula and we can see about finding a diner to get some pancakes.”

“I want blueberry,” Caleb said with his childish surety.

“We’ll have to see what they have, pup.”

Derek slid out of bed, and headed for the restroom. Maisy was only quietly babbling; she didn’t need to be fed for another ten minutes at that rate. And maybe Caleb could keep her busy for a few extra if Derek wanted to brush his teeth a little more leisurely than the last few days. Simple pleasures. He needed a good three minutes to get his head wrapped around the idea of morning.

But just as he was squeezing the toothpaste out, he actually tuned in to Caleb’s fairly never-ending murmuring as he announced, “Look Maisy, there goes the Sheriff’s car again. That’s four times. I wonder if the other guy will come back. He was funny.”

Derek swallowed, propped his toothbrush back in the cup and headed for his son. “The Sheriff’s car has been by four times, Caleb?”

The little brown head nodded, his nose pressed up against the glass of the window. “He stopped earlier and got out with another man. They both looked over here and I waved at them. They didn’t flash their eyes at me, but the other guy had funny drawings on his arms. I saw them when he rolled up his sleeves.”

That didn’t exactly sound good. Derek couldn’t decide if that was enough of a sign to leave Beacon Hills well enough alone or not. He looked around the motel room, grateful for the fact that they had unpacked only a few items the night before.

He ran a tired hand down his face. “Okay, son. Let me know if they come back while I’m in the bathroom. I’ll be right back.”

He at least needed to brush his teeth before accepting this day and whatever it had in store for them.

 

____________

 

“I’m telling you, Dad, I’m not getting funky vibes off of them,” Stiles said as his dad pulled away from the motel. The werewolf in their territory seemed friendly enough at first glance--though that glance was really only of his truly adorable son. The kid had been awake when they paused in the parking lot of the motel, and he had been waving from the window like he had never heard the phrase “stranger danger.”

Stiles wondered if the family was from somewhere like Beacon Hills, where kids grow up knowing everyone and never meeting a stranger.

Either way, he wasn’t getting vibes of danger or ill intent from this werewolf. His wards had let him know the family passed the territory boundaries at four pm the previous day, but they hadn’t reacted in any sort of way that made him feel alarmed. He had spread the word to Scott and the rest of the pack, told them to keep an eye out, but when no one called with any news, Stiles became more curious. Usually supernatural beings passing through Beacon Hills either found there way to Scott or to the Nemeton. When the former happened, Scott always let him know what their visitor was there for. When the latter happened, well, usually the pack ended up racing out to the Preserve to stop whatever terrible thing was happening.

The last time, it had been a ghoul. Stiles hated ghouls. They were a lot smellier than he had ever imagined.

At least this time it was a werewolf. Actually two.

“You said he had two kids with him yesterday?” Stiles asked his dad.

“Yep. The kid you saw today and a little thing, probably a year old, dressed in pink but I didn’t get a good look at her face since she was screaming her head off.”

“You didn’t see her eyes?”

His dad shrugged. “No. Does it matter?”

Stiles shook his head. “Probably not. But the wards said two werewolves passed through, not three.”

“So one of the kids is human.”

“Yeah. And I’m not sure what that means.”

They drove in silence for a while, both thinking. They still didn’t know everything there was to know about werewolves. They probably never would. Stiles had made quite a few contacts into the supernatural world, with creatures from all different backgrounds, regions, and lore, but they didn’t often get to sit down and ask questions of born werewolves. It seemed like most wolves left Beacon Hills alone since it had a pack. They’d had a few run-ins with packs trying to take over their territory, but they had been struggling to connect with other well-established packs. It was like the werewolf packs they had heard of were all too closed-in to want to speak to them.

His dad sighed beside him. “Maybe the man’s the human. Maybe he’s got two werewolf kids and he--”

“Kidnapped them?” Stiles finished.

His dad gave him a disappointed look. “Not everyone is evil, you know. I just meant, he looked...tired, yesterday. The kid got all upset when he saw my gun and it just set the baby off crying, and the poor guy he just kinda slumped down a little like he was running out of energy.”

Stiles glared at his father accusingly. “You’ve already decided you like them!” he declared.

“No!” That was his dad’s guilt face though. “I just...he’s got two kids and no wife in sight and he looked so damn tired is all! I just…”

Stiles deflated at that. “Yeah…”

His dad shook his head. “We’ll see, I guess. I just felt bad for him.”

“Just don’t get too attached,” Stiles warned. “We don’t know why he’s here or how long he’ll be.”

 

__________

 

By the time Derek got his kids’ bags packed up in the car (in case they couldn’t return to the motel later) Caleb was already making pathetic little groaning noises that rivaled Maisy’s when she was having trouble sleeping.

“We’re gonna eat, pup. Just hold on.”

“Do you think they’ll have more than one kind of syrup?” And his son was distracted by his own thought, off babbling about how strawberry syrup isn’t really syrup but it is sticky and that makes it good.

Derek climbed into the car and pointed it towards the diner he had seen on his way into town.

The diner wasn’t large, but it had a homey feel that made it oh so much better than a stop at one of the many chains they had passed during their car trip. This place had real food, and smelled like actual meats--unlike a few of the restaurants they had stopped at in the last two weeks. He wasn’t sure he would ever take his kids to a fast-food stop again with some of the things he had smelled there.

But here, here was good the moment he walked in. The booths were clean and the tables weren’t sticky. The lights weren’t those blinking fluorescent obscenities that always seemed to be on the fritz. The food smelled amazing all the way from the front door. And there was coffee that didn’t smell burnt.

Derek let Caleb pick a seat. They ended up in one of the booths by the front windows of the diner. It gave him a good view of the door and the street. His son usually picked good spots like that simply because he liked to see everything himself. Derek just hoped that his son would never continue that tendency because of hypervigilance like his father.

Caleb was very much a boy who was fascinated in the world. He liked to see and notice and understand. His biggest tantrums were always rooted in not being allowed to do something or go somewhere. His kid was always curious. Derek hoped he would never lose that. He hoped Caleb would always be interested in the world, instead of like Derek, scared of it.

The waitress came up to their table, popping bubblegum and holding a coffee carafe. “Morning, guys! How are you?”

Derek froze for a moment, in the process of unsnapping Maisy from her carrier. The waitress was a wolf, and her smile was watchful. He forced himself to give a weak smile back. She wasn’t the Alpha, but it wouldn’t hurt to be polite to any Beta of a place he was hoping to stay.

“Good morning.” He finished fishing Maisy out of her carrier and lifted her up to his chest in case she felt nervous around another wolf. They hadn’t encountered any since she began to feel the pull of her own wolf. He wasn’t too sure if it might set her off or not.

The waitress slid a coffee cup onto the table and began to pour him coffee, though her eyes were still tracking Derek and both of his kids, Maisy in his arms and Caleb across the table.

Caleb, as usual, was the one to break the moment. “Do you have strawberry sauce?” he asked, like it was the single most important question here.

The waitress tipped her head sideways, as she considered that. “Sauce for what, exactly?”

Caleb rolled his eyes with his whole body. “Sauce for pancakes of course!”

The waitress chuckled, and her smile turned more playful. “Oh! Well, of course! Yes, kiddo, we’ve got strawberry sauce for pancakes. Is that what you want for breakfast?”

He nodded quickly, making some complicated gesture with his hands that Derek would never interpret into words.

“Kids pancakes with strawberry sauce, coming up,” the waitress said with a grin, not bothering to write it down on her pad of paper. “And what can I get you, sir?”

“I’ll have whatever your special is right now,” Derek said, because small towns always had specials, and they were always the best thing on the menu.

“Coming up,” she said, glancing back to the kitchen.

Derek tuned in to the noise of the kitchen in time to hear a man ask from the back, “What does the kid want to drink, Erica?” It wouldn’t have been audible to humans, but then, the waitress wasn’t one.

“What do you want to drink, little man?” she asked Caleb. “We have orange juice, apple juice, milk, water…?”

“Apple juice!”

“We can do that.” She turned and walked away, leaving them.

Derek was a little surprised. Most werewolves wouldn’t willingly turn their backs to strange wolves in their territory in close quarters--even if it was a public space. He was surprised she hadn’t asked him why they was here or how long they were staying. Unusual, but not necessarily bad. The pack was young; maybe they weren’t quite used to handling strange wolves in their territory yet.

Caleb began to chatter about what he saw from the window, noting different people walking by and asking questions about why there were no taxis in this city. Derek let himself focus only a portion of his attention on his kids, pulling out a drool cloth for Maisy because she was all about the drool at this current point in life. The rest of his attention was focused on his surroundings. He hadn’t noticed anyone outside paying them any extra attention through the large window, though they were sitting out in the open rather obviously. No one in the diner seemed to pay them any attention.

But that’s why he heard the waitress in the kitchen, muttering to someone, “Yes, the guy and his kids are here.” Then there was a pause. “I don’t know? Probably for breakfast? Boyd makes the best french toast in the state.” There was another pause before she added, “No I haven’t asked yet, but his kids are seriously cute. The boy kinda reminds me of Stiles.” The last pause was shorter this time. “Okay, I’ll let him know. And yes I’ll be careful. Boyd’s here and Isaac just seated himself at one of the other booths. We’ll be fine until you get here.”

Derek let out a short sigh. He hadn’t even noticed another werewolf entering the building, but sure enough there was a blonde young wolf seated a few tables away with a good vantage spot of their own booth. He didn’t look sinister, but he did glance in Derek’s direction in a way that seemed to suggest he would be watching them. Derek gave him a short nod before lifting the baby carrier off the seat and setting it on the floor by his feet. “Caleb, come on over to this side of the table, please.” If the alpha was coming here, he needed his kids within reach.

Mercifully, Caleb didn’t argue. He just slid under the table and bounded into the new seat, barely missing creating a lump on his head from the table.

“Careful, son,” he murmured.

Caleb nudged himself up onto his knees, grabbing Derek’s sleeve for support. Then he booped his nose against Maisy’s. “Hi, Maisy-Daisy!” he giggled, making her giggle with him. Caleb kissed her messily on the cheek. “We’re having pancakes!” Then Caleb passed a hand over her soft baby hair, because Derek had once told him about how important scent marking was for babies, and he had taken that lesson to heart. He didn’t often let Maisy go without being scented if he was in reaching distance of her.

The waitress didn’t wait long to come back out of the kitchen after her phone call. She headed for their table with a controlled swagger to her walk and a look that acknowledged that she knew he must have heard her conversation.

“My boss would like a word in a little bit,” she said when she reached them.

Derek nodded in understanding.

“He should be here in a few minutes. Is there anything you guys need before then?”

He shook his head.


	4. Chapter 4

The alpha of the pack did not keep them waiting long. But the food came out just moments before he walked through the door. Caleb fell upon his pancakes like a starving animal on a defenseless meal. Derek found himself eating through a lump of anxiety in his throat. Fortunately for him, he was only on the third bite when he sensed the presence of another wolf, this time with a little more oomph, nearing the door.

The young man who walked into the diner was younger than Derek had pictured. He knew the alpha was young, turned as a young high school student and had become an alpha only two years later, but he had honestly not thought about how young that would make the kid. He looked about twenty-two if a day. Derek suddenly felt a little unsure that this was really his smartest idea. They were going to need protection if...well, he hardly even wanted to think it out loud to himself.

Derek didn’t stand to greet the alpha, but he did incline his neck in a way that would be subtle enough for the humans in the vicinity, but clear enough for a wolf. He was submitting to the ruling authority of this territory.

The man nodded once, then moved to sit down across from them, smooth and confident, but lacking the bullshit attitude that alphas often seemed to carry around. “My name is Scott McCall. I take care of this town. I’d like to ask about your intentions in coming here.”

Derek appreciated the lack of small talk or posturing. “I’m Derek Hale. These are my kids. We are looking for a new place to settle down.”

“Any particular reason you chose this town, Mr. Hale?” the alpha asked.

“My family used to own a house out on the nature preserve of this town. It’s been abandoned for a while now, but I’ve come to see if we could be granted permission to stay there--here...in your territory.”

“What are your intentions if you decide to stay here?” the alpha pushed.

“Daddy?” Caleb interrupted, surprisingly later than expected. “What’s going on?”

Derek felt a sticky hand grab his elbow, and winced. Syrup in arm hair was not really a great combo. “Don’t worry about it, pup. Just eat your pancakes.”

Caleb eyed McCall. “I don’t know you.”

The alpha smiled, disarmingly, and his face smoothed out from seriousness to something more inviting and friendly. “Hey bud, I just wanted to get to know your dad a little bit. I like to know the people who come to our town.”

“But aren’t there a lot of people?” Caleb asked, sounding confused.

“Well, yes, but I know all the people who live here,” the alpha said like it was a simple thing. “I grew up here in town.”

“Then you knew my Daddy’s Uncle who lived here a long time ago before I was born?”

The alpha turned to Derek. “You said your uncle was a Hale? Peter Hale?”

Derek nodded.

“I remember when he and his family left town a few years ago. Word got back to us about what happened. I’m sorry.”

Derek swallowed the lump that landed in his throat. “Hunters,” he explained, though it probably wasn’t necessary.

McCall frowned. “It wasn’t an accident like they said? Oh, wait, actually that makes sense now. I didn’t realize he and your family were…” The alpha made some sort of clawing motion. “We just knew that he left for that family reunion and that, well…” He looked to Caleb, who was still listening to their every word, but quietly shoving handfuls of pancake into his sticky little mouth.

Derek grabbed a napkin from the end of the table and tried to do a little damage control, as well as to stop looking the alpha in the eye for a moment. It was exhausting.

The alpha didn’t give him long to think, instead asking, “So you want to live here now? In your uncle’s old house? I’m not sure it’s liveable right now. After he disappeared from town there were some...vandalisms, and…” McCall sort of winced and shrugged in an odd sort of way like he didn’t want to get into all of that. “Kids kind of decided it was probably haunted or whatever and it was a thing I guess for a while.”

Derek paused with one small sticky hand in his own, to consider that. He figured at the time of the fire this kid was probably in middle school, and realized he’d probably had his fair share of sneaking up to Peter’s house for a fright with his friends.

McCall must’ve read some of the worry in his face, because he said, “The house is still in fairly good condition as far as I could tell last time I went by. But um, my pack has sometimes used that area for training. It’s a good open space in the middle of the Preserve.”

He wasn’t sure what to do with that. If he moved in, would they still use his land? “Technically, the land is still owned by my family, but I realize that I can’t very easily move into town without your say, so…” He shrugged in a way that he hoped conveyed please tell me whether or not I need to leave right now.

The alpha studied him for a moment, then looked at his kids. “You just want to live here?”

Derek grit his teeth, but figured a little openness might go a longer way than a sarcastic response. “I don’t have a pack anymore, except for these two. But I don’t want to raise them isolated from the world. We needed a place to start over. And...my daughter is going to need more of a pack than I can give her some day,” he admitted with some reluctance.

McCall gave a small grin. “I couldn’t tell for sure, man, which one was which, but that’s great. Their mom is human?”

Derek felt Caleb’s eyes on him. “Um, yeah. But she’s not in the picture anymore.” He settled an arm around Caleb, and let his son cuddle into his side. “It’s just the three of us.”

He could see McCall hesitate, but the alpha didn’t ask. “All right. Well, we have a policy of trial periods. Up to two months. In that time, I will introduce you to the rest of the pack, and we will let you settle in as much as you would like, knowing our policy. So you are aware, my emissary does keep up wards for protection around town and in the Preserve. When you come across them, don’t bother trying to avoid them or alter them in any way. Others have tried and they have failed. Also, I need to warn you, there is a family of hunters here in town, but they work with us to keep Beacon Hills in order. I will be letting them know you are here, but if you come across them, don’t be surprised if they want to ask you a few questions themselves.”

“You work with hunters?” Derek asked. It was a foreign idea to him, especially after everything with the fire. “They aren’t…?”

“They aren’t racist ass--” the Alpha cuts himself off with a guilty look to Caleb. “I mean, no, they aren’t like that. We’ve met some hunters like you might be thinking of before. The ones who are here even had their moments at times, but they’re safe. They won’t hurt you unless you hurt someone else first,” McCall assured him.

Derek wasn’t sure he could ever believe that, but here wasn’t the place to get into that in too much detail. Still, he admitted, “I’m not sure how comfortable I am bringing my kids into that situation. Maybe we shouldn’t stay.”

Caleb piped up from where his face was smooshed into Derek’s stomach. “But they have strawberry sauce for pancakes, Daddy. And I can see a park from here with big kid swings.”

McCall smiled at that. “Those swings are pretty nice, I’m not gonna lie. I’ve had quite a few fun memories made on those things.”

Derek looked down at his kids, one spreading sticky pink sauce along his shirt and the other dripping drool down her arm because she was trying (unsuccessfully) to eat her entire fist. They were tired. Tired of travelling, and tired of running. The kids deserved to have a home.

He looked up at the alpha. “The hunters...you trust them?”

McCall smiled at that. “I do. One of them is my wife.”

Derek wasn’t even sure what to say to that. A werewolf had married a hunter. It wasn’t normal. It wasn’t even heard of, as far as he knew.

“I heard this town has been peaceful for the last few years,” Derek said, more as a question than statement. “We just need somewhere quiet to be.”

“Yeah man, it’s been good for a while now. Things have evened out.”

Derek kissed Maisy’s head and rubbed Caleb’s shoulder. They were the only good things in his life right then, and he wanted to do what was best for them, not what was easiest for him. “Well, then, I guess we will take you up on that offer of a trial period.” They had no better offers within the country. And sneaking past borders with a six-year-old and a baby did not sound at all appealing to him. They would save that as a last resort.

McCall smiled. “Welcome to Beacon Hills, Mr. Hale.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's short because it's where I stopped writing in NaNo2016... haha Sorry!

Derek took his kids up to see Peter’s house that afternoon. He took the baby’s play crib, some toys for her to play with, and what felt like everything Caleb owned. He wanted to get a good look at the house and see what kind of work was in store for him, but Caleb would need some serious distractions.  
It was strange parking in front of the house as an adult. He hadn’t seen it since he was a teenager. It felt familiar but not.

“We’re living here?” Caleb asked, sounding both astonished and curious. “It looks…”

Yeah. There was going to be some work to do. There was graffiti all over the front of the house. One of the porch steps was completely broken. The windows were shattered. It looked pretty bad aesthetically.  
But who knew what the inside had in store.

Derek got his kids out of the car and settled Maisy in his arms and one of Caleb’s hands in his own, because he wasn’t letting his kid wander around before he knew how safe the house was. For all he knew, the floor might be rotted. He honestly didn’t want to take Caleb in at first at all, but if he left him outside and expected him to stay put, well, that would be pretty close to a miracle. Caleb didn’t really do staying put. Fortunately, Caleb seemed a little off-put by the sight of the house, so he didn’t argue the holding hands directive.

Derek walked up the front steps (Caleb hopped over the broken one) and they let themselves in. The front door was locked, but Derek snapped the front doorknob off, figuring he would be buying one of everything else for the house anyway.

The house wasn’t trashed. That was a mercy to see. It actually didn’t look like anyone had been inside the house in years. There were books sitting on the couch open. A bucket of laundry was sitting by the coffee table. It looked like the house hadn’t been disturbed. The dust on top of everything had to be at least a centimeter thick.

“It smells funny, Daddy.”

It didn’t smell like family. Maybe because of the broken windows letting in the outside air. It didn’t smell like Peter or Lily or Catherine, Michael, and Thomas. It just smelled like dust. Derek wasn’t sure why he had expected it to smell familiar after all this time.

They did a short tour of the house. The floor seemed solid, though a few boards bent and creaked. The ceiling of the first floor didn’t seem to be bowing or have any suspicious stains from water lines breaking. All in all, after they looked around on the first floor, it seemed like mostly topical fixes would turn this place into a home. It was doable.

Derek and the kids spent the rest of the week living out of the motel, running through more of his cash than he would have liked. But needs must. The foundation was still good, and it looked like most of the wiring would work out. Derek had gotten the generator out back to cough its way into proper working order. But they wouldn’t be ready to move in until there were window panes on every window, about fifty pounds of dust removed from each room, and the house was reorganized.

It gave Derek a weird feeling to be walking into the bedrooms upstairs and see signs of the lives that had been cut off so suddenly. Thomas had a book report half done sitting on his desk in his room. Catherine’s makeup (something Derek had forgotten had been such a topic of argument between his Uncle Peter and Aunt Lily) was all spread out on her dresser drawers. Michael had college applications on his bed with a pros and cons list sitting right next to them.

It was awful.

He decided to start in the downstairs, with the living room. He and Caleb (mostly Derek) dusted the room as much as they could. He let Caleb were a facemask to keep him from breathing in all of that ickiness. Caleb was delighted to be let loose on the battle against dust, but he was a little more chaos than controlled effort, so he stirred up a lot of the dust but was unable to actually help get it outside where it needed to go. Still, they tidied up the room and made a space for Maisy’s playpen. They put a few of her toys inside of it and let her stay in the playpen while they continued on in the house. Derek also stashed most of Caleb’s toys in the same room, so that when he got bored of helping, he could go play for a while on the now-clean floor of the living room.


	6. Chapter 6

Derek hasn’t noticed any scents of werewolves within two miles of his uncle’s house, and Caleb has only noticed the Sheriff’s vehicle driving past their hotel room four times in the last week. He appreciates the fact that no one has been banging on his door to meet him, or not-so-subtly checking him over.

Well...other than the townspeople. They noticed rather quickly that Derek had shown up to town looking ready to stay. He had been welcomed quite thoroughly by one of the cashiers at the grocery mart when he went for diapers. The librarian had made it a point to stop by and chat with him when he stopped in the library long enough to use a computer and log on to his email to send Cora a message telling her where he was stopping. Between the older gossipy women who stopped him on the street, and the different peoples working in the stores he sought out for house supplies, it seemed that the entire town knew his name by the end of his third day there.

But no wolves bothered them.

He took the kids for breakfast at the diner once more that first week, but the blonde waitress seemed to be containing her curiosity, and made no shop talk as she took their orders and brought them food.

By day five, Derek’s shoulders are starting to unclench. Maisy is bubbly and rested. Caleb is running a mile a minute and crashing hard to bed every night.

By day seven, Derek is wondering if he can really get to have this. This quiet life with happy kids, and a house that’s starting to look like a home.

Day ten, the Beacon Hills Alpha invites Derek and his family to a Pack get-together in order to meet everyone. While he would love to hide away in the Preserve where all he can hear without straining is unrestrained wildlife and his kids, he knew he had to play nice. So he packed up his kids for the outing and did his best to explain to Caleb about what he needed him to do.

No asking for other werewolves to do a full-shift so that he can pet their fur.

No leaving Derek’s line of sight unless explicitly given permission from Derek.

Stay calm. And if anything bad happened, take the bag of Funny Dirt from the diaper bag and hide with Maisy until everything was okay again.

That last one was a last resort, but they had practiced for it. Derek kept a supply of Mountain Ash in the diaper bag (carefully sealed and double-bagged so as not to get on anything of Maisy’s). Caleb was human, but he had an affinity for handling Mountain Ash. And thanks to many many lessons with (and about) it, he seemed to understand the severity of needing it in a bad situation. He knew not to play with it because he knew Maisy could get sick if she got into it.

Armed with a diaper bag holding two changes of clothes (for each kid,) snacks, juice boxes, and the unholy hell of diaper changing supplies that a small child seems to require, Derek got his kids strapped into the van and drove to the location that the Alpha had sent him. It was a two-story house in a cheery neighborhood. The driveway and nearest spots on the street were all taken by cars, so Derek went down until he found a place to park. When he went around to the side door, he was surprised to see Caleb had not only not thrown the door open wide, but he was still sitting in his seat, buckled up. His face had a pensive look on it.

Derek huffed a quick sigh. “What’s up, bud?” Maybe he shouldn’t have been so serious about his reminders to Caleb back at the motel.

“If they’re all wolves like you, Daddy, why are we supposed to be nervous and careful? Are they mean wolves?”

“They’re just strangers, pup,” he said carefully. “We have to be careful with new people. That’s all.”

Caleb was about to respond, when a car pulled up behind their van and parked. Derek looked out the back window and saw that it was the Sheriff’s cruiser again. He stood up straight and left a hand on the door in case.

The Sheriff got out with a tired wave. “Hello again. Here for the Pack meeting?”

Derek wasn’t sure what his face did, but the Sheriff waved him off. “My kid’s the emissary. I’m sure he’ll be glad to meet you. We don’t get many born wolves in this area. He’s been looking forward to asking you questions all week. Don’t let him corner you into answering more than you want to. He’s a little pushy, but he’ll back off if you tell him to.” The man winced a little. “Well, he’ll back off if you distract him a little. If you really need to get away, just toss one of your kids at him and he’ll be all over it. He’s practicing to be a godfather.”

Derek wasn’t all too sure how to react to that whole speech, so he figured a quick nod was all he needed. Then he reached back into the car to grab Maisy and gear. Caleb was already unstrapping seatbelts and moving to lean out the car door.

“Do you have your gun again, Mr. Sheriff?” he asked, trepidation in his voice somewhat obvious.

The Sheriff motioned to his empty hip. “No gun right now, kiddo. I’m off duty.”

Caleb accepted that and hopped out of the van eagerly. “Are there other kids to play with here? Are they wolves because Daddy says I won’t run as fast as a wolf and that’s cheating if we play Duck Duck Goose. We’ll have to play something like trucks or dinosaurs or puzzles or something. But puzzles aren’t as fun as Duck Duck Goose.”

“Sorry, kiddo,” the Sheriff said. “There isn’t anybody your age at the meeting tonight. We’ve got a two-year old, but she’s the only kid here tonight. I think we’ve got enough toys and games to keep you amused though. Let’s get you guys inside and introduce you to everybody.”

Derek grabbed Caleb’s hand so he couldn’t wander into the street, and followed the older man towards the house that was bursting with conversation from several doors down. They reach the house before Derek is ready, but there’s no helping that. The Sheriff doesn’t even knock, just turns the knob on the apparently-unlocked house, and waltzes in like he belongs there, ushering Derek and the kids in behind him. He leads them through the entrance hallway and into the living room and Derek only has a moment to note that he sees the familiar blonde waitress who never wears a nametag, the Alpha, and too many bodies to track, most of them registering a scent of werewolf, someone smelling faintly of magic, a strangely familiar scent of electricity and sugar, and then it’s like the whole room pauses mid-breath to turn and face him and his kids.

There must be roughly twenty people present and they are all staring.

Then the Alpha stands up from his seat on the couch next to a very pregnant young woman and comes at them with smiles and a hand out for a handshake that Derek only just manages to read as ‘not a threat’ in time to unlock his fingers from Caleb’s hand to shake it.

“So glad you could make it! Derek, this is the Pack. It’s way too many people for you to remember everyone’s names right away, but I’ll point everybody out and they can reintroduce themselves to you as the night goes on. We’ll eat in about fifteen minutes when the pizza gets here, and we’ll have the actual Pack meeting after dinner if you would like to stay and hear what’s going on in the town.” Then he spins on a heel and begins pointing to people around the room.

“That beautiful goddess on the couch is my wife Allison, currently eight and a half months pregnant with our first kid. My mom Melissa is the gorgeous woman sitting next to her. Over there with the wicked tattoos is my emissary Stiles, also the Sheriff’s son. You’ve met Erica--” (Derek logs the name in his brain to replace ‘blonde waitress,’ “--and that is her boyfriend Boyd. He is great with kids if you ever need a babysitter. Next to them is Isaac, and Isaac’s girlfriend Lynette, who teaches kindergarten at the school closer to the Preserve. There is Lydia and her husband Jackson, who are both home for the summer before Lydia finishes off her Masters next semester. Jordan Parrish is our deputy in the know about supernatural things. Next to him is his wife Chloe and their adorable daughter Abigail, who has been very excited for another kid to be at these meetings. Kira is--”

Derek loses all track of names and faces when a figure he hoped never to see again steps through the doorway leading to what can only be the kitchen. He quickly steps in front of Caleb to push him out of sight and shifts Maisy to hold her a little higher against his chest in case he has to fight one-handed.

Chris Argent raises his hands like he comes in peace, but it means little.

The Alpha’s voice dies out as he catches on to the tenseness of the moment. “It’s okay, Derek. He’s on our side of things.”

“Not likely,” Derek grits out. Okay, it’s more of a growl. He can’t help it. An Argent is in the same house as his kids! He feels sick. Maisy begins to whine with his sudden change in mood. Caleb is clutching the leg of his pants, not even saying anything, because he can tell something’s wrong.

“I’m not like my sister,” Chris Argent says calmly. “I broke off from the family years ago to raise my daughter in peace.” He motions to the pregnant young woman on the couch. “She’s married to a wolf now. Tell me, would I look as calm as I am right now at that fact if I was like my sister or father?”

The Alpha of Beacon Hills was married to an Argent.

Derek felt his eyes flash in panic, and Maisy’s whine became more of a prelude to screaming. If he hadn’t had his kids with him, Derek would have probably been about five seconds away from panicking. As it was, he was counting heads and calculating whether or not he could make it to the door before taking a claw or gunshot to the back.

The Alpha cleared his throat. “How about everyone heads out to the backyard, okay?” He says it with forced calm, but everyone in the room shuffles into action fairly quickly and without reply, so Derek can tell his Pack respects him. Even Argent just calmly nods and heads for the door on the far side of the living room that everyone is filing out.

Before Derek even has a chance to take off in the hubbub, the Sheriff lightly pats him on the shoulders, obviously not sure if touch will be allowed, but Derek is too panicked to fight it.

“You look like you could use a seat,” the older man tells him not unkindly.

The Alpha guides him to the nearest seat--a soft easychair that Derek fights the urge to sink into and hide inside--and pulls a folding chair up opposite them but not close enough to be threatening. “I’m really sorry about that. He recognized you around town a few days ago, and he knew you would freak out. We had planned to let you know he was here a little more delicately, but well, that didn’t happen.”

There was a snort to the side of the room as the emissary strode back into the room, a glass of something that smelled strongly of alcohol and wolfsbane. “You want a drink to settle your nerves?” he asked, offering the drink, a cheeky grin on his face. “Lydia makes some of the best bootleg you’ll ever taste.”

“No,” Derek grunts out. He’s not going to hinder his attention-span when he’s in possible-enemy territory. He tugs Caleb up onto his lap, and for once his son is fully compliant and slumps down on his chest, sticking his hair right under Derek’s chin for easier sniffing, and patting a small hand to Maisy’s back and head to try and calm her down. She’s still making little noises in her chest, but she no longer seems ready to scream. That’s probably good.

The emissary doesn’t argue, just passes the glass to the Alpha, who rolls his eyes but throws back the drink, then makes a terrible face at the burn.

Caleb giggles against his chest. Derek’s feeling a bit of numbness spreading over himself now. He tips his head down to better take in the scent of his pups safe and with him.

“Hey,” the Alpha says. “You’re safe here, okay? Chris is no longer a hunter. He just helps when the Pack needs something, and keeps an ear to the ground for hunters moving our way. You’re safe and your kids are safe with us.”

Derek can’t sense anything except sincerity in the Alpha’s assurances. But he doesn’t discount the idea that the Alpha might just not know if Argent has a plan. It’s not like the family isn’t good at subterfuge and lying. He’d fallen for Kate’s traps without much more than a ‘come hither’ grin in his direction.

The emissary crouches down to be more level with them, hand patting at his Alpha’s knee. “Listen man, I get it. I’ve met Gerard and I figured Chris couldn’t avoid the batshit craziness that seems to flow through his family. But seriously, Allison is like one of the sweetest people you’ve ever met. She and Chris aren’t hunting anyone that doesn’t come after the Pack first. I get that you’ve had a different experience with the other branch of the family, but they aren’t like Kate or Gerard. Chris is part of the reason Kate even got arrested. He helped because Kate threatened Scott, and he cared more about Allison’s husband than he did his insane sister.”

The emissary’s voice is soothing and his heartbeat is steady. It makes Derek want to trust them.

“If it was just me…” Derek begins, “but I have to worry about my kids.”

The Sheriff cuts in at that. “Well at least stay for dinner. It’s not like anybody’s going to attack a whole pack of werewolves in the middle of a weekly get-together.”

“And even if they did,” the emissary joins in, “we have more than enough power to shut it down almost immediately. We might be a young pack, but we protect each other, and for however long you’re here, you’re included in that protection.”

Caleb pipes in at that point, which shouldn’t be surprising. “I think he knows how to protect people, Daddy. He’s got Funny Dirt in his pockets and I don’t think it’s even in a bag.”

Thanks, son. Good time to announce to the strange Pack that you have skills in magic and can sense Mountain Ash.

The emissary just quirks a jaunty grin though. “Funny Dirt?”

Derek can’t help but shake his head. “Caleb had a bit of a lisp when he was younger, and his ‘sh’ sounds kept coming out as ‘s.’” There was only so long he could stand his baby calling it Mountain Ass before he had to rebrand it. Jennifer had kept a stock in the kitchen and used it for different little things throughout the years. She had thought it was hilarious that a werewolf’s son had such an affinity for it. Lucky for everyone she hadn’t realized quite how big that affinity was until it was too late for her to stop it though.

“So you can sense Mountain Ash, huh?” the emissary asked his son.

Caleb nodded against Derek’s chest. “It’s tingly.”

The emissary smiled softly. “Yeah, I guess it kind of is.”

“And it’s funny playing with it. Mommy couldn’t make it dance but I can.”

“Oh you can, can you?” the emissary asked, out and out beaming now. “Well, can you do this?” He spread his palms out at waist-level, and Derek watched as a thin trail of Mountain Ash crept out of his pockets and slide from his elbows down his arm to rest in his palms. Then he began to juggle little balls of Mountain Ash in the air.

Caleb sat up with a gasp. “You’re like me! You don’t have to touch it!”

Derek held him around his waist so the kid couldn’t go diving onto the floor, but he didn’t stop the interaction. In all the years of living in New York and meeting other magic users and Supernatural species, they had never once met someone gifted with Mountain Ash like Caleb and he couldn’t help but enjoy how enamored his son looked. Maisy was picking up on her brother’s mood and starting to giggle too.

The emissary let the ash fall back to his hands into two even piles, inert. “Pretty cool, isn’t it? I had to practice a long time to make that work without dropping it.”

Derek didn’t have time to stop his son’s hand from reaching out. Before he even realized it was happening, Caleb had a handful of ash in his tiny palm and was poking at it happily. Then he giggled. “It’s warm.”

“That’s because I’ve been playing with it,” the emissary said easily. “Does it not get warm for you?”

“Daddy doesn’t let me play with it very much,” Caleb admitted thoughtfully. “He says it’s dangerous for Maisy.”

“You’re daddy’s very smart,” the man says carefully. He gives Derek a grin.

Derek almost feels the urge to blush. He shouldn’t care what this random emissary has to say in his compliments, but well, it’s been a long time since he’s been honestly complimented. It helps that the emissary’s eyes are warm and his face just looks so damn kind at that moment.

“Daddy knows I won’t let it hurt Maisy though,” Caleb continues, unaware of his father’s awkward moment. “I would never let it make her sick.”

The emissary’s eyes move back away from Derek’s and it’s a little easier to breathe. He focuses on Caleb’s little hands where it looks like Caleb is molding the ash into shape. “Well, that’s what makes you a good older brother. If you guys stay, I’d be glad to play with you away from your sister where it can’t make her sick.”

Caleb shakes his head. “I don’t have to play away from her. She thinks it’s funny when I make it do stuff. See?” And he turns to his sister and animates the ash. It takes the form of a stick person, then starts dancing the Can Can because Caleb had seen it in a cartoon last week and has thought it was the funniest dance in the whole wide world ever since. Of course, he didn’t know about all of the connotations the dance really carried, but he was six, so that didn’t matter.

The emissary burst out laughing. “Scott, we’ve got to keep this kid. He’s got style!”

Fortunately the Alpha looks to be in agreement, because he’s grinning almost as hard as his emissary. “That’s pretty incredible, little guy.”

Derek winces.

Caleb turns on the Alpha with a fierce expression. “I’m not little! Maisy’s little.” Then he...he throws the Mountain Ash at the Alpha’s face.

Fortunately the emissary must shield him because the ash just stops mid-air then, trails back to his hands as he laughs almost hysterically. He falls on his butt as the ash slips back into his pockets. “Yeah, Scott. He’s not little. He’s like six and ready to grow a beard. If you’re gonna be a dad soon you gotta understand kid ages at least a little bit.”

Derek pulls his kid back to his chest, blushing for sure this time in embarrassment. “I am so sorry. He isn’t usually like this. We’ve had a bit of a rough time the last few weeks.”

“Dude, it’s fine, for real,” the emissary assures him, laughter subsiding. “Scott can handle being taken down a rung or two by a tiny ball of fury. He’ll survive.”

The Alpha rolls his eyes at his emissary, but when he turns back to Derek his face is calm and he doesn’t smell upset. “He’s a kid. It’s fine. As long as he doesn’t use Mountain Ash against anyone in the Pack, we’re all good.”

The emissary sits up straighter and nudges the Alpha’s knee as if to shut him up. “I got this, Scott.” Then he turns his amber eyes on Caleb. “Listen my big dude, we use Mountain Ash to protect people, right?”

Caleb nods slowly.

“So you could protect your dad and your sister with it, right?”

Caleb nods a little more emphatically. He could and he has.

“Well Scott’s like my brother, and this Pack is my family. Now, I don’t think you would like me throwing ash at your daddy or your sister, so…?”

Caleb’s eyes grow big, and his lower lip looks ready to tremble. “I’m sorry. I don’t wanna hurt your brother!”

“I know you didn’t,” he says kindly. “So I’m not gonna worry about this one time. Let’s just promise each other not to throw any more ash at anyone except each other, okay?” And he holds out his hand to shake on it.

Caleb’s face lights up. “He wants to shake my hand, Daddy! Like grownups!”

So they do.

“I promise to be nice to your Pack if you’re nice to mine, Mr. Magic Dirt Man,” Caleb says seriously.

The emissary cracks up again. “Call me Stiles, really, my man. I can’t live up to a title like that.”

And if Derek mouths a silent ‘thank you’ over his son’s head, well his son doesn’t need to know it. He’s not sure if Caleb realizes how dangerous Mountain Ash can really be, because he’s always been so able to bend it to his own will, but sometimes that makes Derek a little nervous for people his son may come in contact with because his son can be impetuous to say the least.


	7. Chapter 7

The doorbell rings not long after the handshake agreement. Stiles stands to help his father with the pizza. They ordered twenty-five large pizzas to be on the safe side. The Pack took turns paying each week and it was Lydia and Jackson’s week so they were getting the good stuff, Mama Marjorie’s pizza, instead of the usual cheap pizzas found at the grocery mart.

Isaac and Jordan trekked back into the house to help carry as well, because let’s face it, Stiles shouldn’t ever carry more than maybe five pizza boxes at most. When they passed back through the living room, Scott was talking calmly to Derek while his daughter made spit bubbles that the little man Caleb was delighting in popping.

Derek looked more relaxed than he had been all evening, with his kids sitting happily in his lap. It’s a good look on him. Even though the scowly eyebrows are also a good look. He’s got the bone structure to make every look a good look, because hot damn! The man is beautiful.

Stiles reminds himself it’s in poor taste to hit on wolves wanting to become part of the Pack before they’re even decided to stay. But come on…!

He can see why his father likes the family too. The kids are adorable, and their father looks stretched too thin but is obviously trying (and succeeding) to keep that from his kids, because they are happy and comfortable, not worried about him.

Chris has told them a little about his sister and the way she almost obliterated the Hale Pack as well as several others on the East Coast. Derek has definitely had a rough life. But Stiles thinks that the Beacon Hills Pack could be good for him and his family. They’ve been cozy here for the last few years. The Nemeton is finally dormant thanks to some serious research and work from Stiles and a coven of witches he skypes once a month. It’s been quiet for almost three years. The worst they’ve had is a pack of werefoxes moving through the area last year that kept eating wildlife and leaving it where hikers would run into the carcasses. It had been easy enough to fix.

Stiles sets his boxes of pizza down on one of the four picnic tables in Scott’s backyard, but snags one of the boxes for Derek and his kids. The rest of the pizza gets set on the tables and Isaac and Jordan quickly snatch a box each for themselves before the hungry horde strikes. It only takes a few moments for the Pack to spread out around the tables, cheerfully eating and tossing napkins at each other. Stiles heads for the table closest to the fence as Scott is leading Derek and the kids outside. Scott probably reads his mind, because he leads the family over to where Stiles is setting up.

“Just one pizza, Stiles? Really?”

“You fight them off,” Stiles offers with a laugh. “I don’t want to lose a limb.”

Scott rolls his eyes but goes to track down a free box and probably his wife.

Stiles lets Derek take a seat on the end of the picnic table facing the rest of the Pack. He gets what it’s like not wanting anyone at your back, and Derek seems to calm a little bit when he can see everyone happy and eating. Stiles slides into the seat across from him and starts divvying out paper plates for their group.

Caleb climbs into the seat next to his father and Stiles’s dad slides in next to Caleb, knowing Scott will want to sit next to Stiles and project a unified front throughout this first meeting all together.

It takes all of ten seconds for Stiles to decide that Derek Hale is a Really Good Dad. The man makes sure his son has food first, all the while putting a baby bib on his daughter--one-handed. Then he slides a single claw out from his pointing finger on one hand and starts slicing off tiny scraps of another pizza slice before he puts those scraps in his daughter’s reach. He does this all while he pretends to only casually keep an eye on every stranger in the backyard. When Caleb starts nattering on about how pepperoni pizza is the best pizza, even better than cheese, and Derek makes noises of agreement in all the right places even though he’s finally beginning to eat his own slice of pizza, well, Stiles can’t help but hide the little lurch his heart makes. Which causes Derek to eye his chest for a slight moment, with his bushy brows frowning slightly in confusion.

Stiles grasps for a distraction. “So Caleb, has anybody ever taught you how to make Mountain Ash circles?”

Caleb freezes mid-bite. And his father does as well.

Stiles winces. “Sorry! Not a good conversation starter? Is that an offensive question when your closest family members are both werewolves?”

Caleb looks to his dad for support, and Derek chews and swallows carefully before answering. “His...mother, taught him a little about circles when he was younger, but...well, Mountain Ash has always come pretty naturally to Caleb. And we don’t have much need to practice, exactly.”

“Of course,” Stiles agrees awkwardly. “I just...Caleb mentioned earlier that I should know how to be protecting since I had ash in my pockets, and I thought maybe he was used to using circles to protect himself and you guys. I didn’t mean anything weird.”

Stiles’s dad snorted in amusement. “He tends to speak without thinking. His mouth runs away with him and he says things without thinking of the consequences or connotations.”

Derek glances at his son, who is once again chowing down on the pizza like it’s the best thing he’s ever eaten. “I get that. It’s fine.”

Stiles heaves a silent sigh of relief and casts his dad a grateful look. His dad’s a little too busy nudging more pizza at the kid beside him to notice though. Derek’s finally starting to focus on eating more than on watching the Pack, and Stiles feels himself relaxing. Which is of course when Scott returns with Allison, and Derek stops eating to switch his baby to the other arm so he can reach both of his kids.

He can practically feel Allison wince internally. Scott probably notes it, but he cheerfully sets two more boxes of pizza on the table and helps his wife get situated on the picnic bench. Once she’s seated, she bites the bullet and doesn’t wait for the awkwardness to set in further. Allison props her arms on the tabletop and looks Derek square in the eye.

“I know you have no reason at all to believe me, but my dad and I really aren’t hunting anymore. We had a change of heart after learning what my aunt and grandfather have been doing all these years. When she found out I was going to marry Scott she came down here and attacked him. She would have killed him if my dad hadn’t gotten there in time. It took almost a year, but we got help from the Sheriff and from Stiles and we got enough evidence to link her to the murder of four packs in the last ten years. My grandfather was linked to two of them. They’re going to rot in prison for the rest of their lives, and it’s exactly what they deserve.”

There’s a long, still moment, until Derek slowly nods. “Okay.”

“I know you might not ever be fully comfortable with me and my dad, but I want you to know that we would both die protecting this pack. Especially now that I’m about to have my very own little wolf,” Allison adds with a soft pat to her bulging stomach.

Caleb sits up a little straighter in his seat. “There’s a baby in there? A whole one?”

Allison laughs. “There really is a baby in here. And I can tell it’s a whole one because it certainly likes to wiggle all its little limbs when I’m trying to sleep at night.”

Caleb’s little eyebrows frown a little (and it looks so reminiscent of Derek’s face that Stiles can’t help but adore it.) “But you still like the baby, right? Even though it doesn’t let you sleep?”

“Of course, sweetheart,” Allison says with a soft smile. “I’m always going to love this baby, no matter what.”

“Even when it’s bigger? You won’t hurt it?”

Stiles makes eye contact with his dad, who is looking just as concerned as Stiles is feeling. Derek looks sad. Like, really fucking sad. And Caleb’s so earnestly concerned as he waits for Allison to answer.

“I would never hurt my baby,” Allison says very seriously, seeming to catch on that this isn’t just an innocent question. “I’m also going to protect it from anything and anyone who would ever want to hurt it. Even when it grows up to be an adult I’m going to be protecting it, because that’s what good parents do. We take care of our kids, like your dad takes care of you.”

Caleb looks up at his dad, who forces a weak smile to the surface and presses a kiss to his forehead.

“You don’t smell like Mommy,” Caleb says, turning back to Allison. “You can’t do magic, can you?”

“No. I’m just a boring old regular human. Stiles is the only one in the Pack who can do any magic.”

Stiles is almost unprepared for the careful look Caleb gives him. “What’s up, buddy?” he asks.

“Do you like her baby?”

He smiles easily. “I love it. I’m going to be the godfather. You know what that is?”

Caleb shakes his head.

“It means that I get to be like an uncle or like an almost-second-dad to the baby. We don’t know yet whether it’s a boy or a girl, because Allison and Scott wanted to be surprised, but I can’t wait to hold it and play with it and spoil it with candy and toys until I’m it’s favorite person in the world. The whole Pack is so excited for it to be here. We’ve been collecting toys and baby things for months to get ready.”

Caleb chews on a lip while he considers that. Then nods once like it’s decided, and looks up at his dad. “I think they like it.”

Derek smiles softly down at his kid. “I think so too, pup. It sounds like the baby is in good hands.”

Then Caleb turns to Stiles with the fiercest expression he can imagine on a six-year old’s face. “I like you, but if you do anything bad to the baby I will hurt you.”

He ignores the way Derek cringes and squeezes the kid’s shoulder. Stiles reaches a hand across the table. “It’s a deal. I will treat the baby like it’s the best baby in the world, but if I don’t, you can come at me with all you’ve got.” And they shake on it.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first hints of Derek's tragic backstory...because Sheriff Stilinski has got to be a good listener.

By the time dinner wraps up, Derek is feeling better about this pack. The Sheriff and Stiles have both been eyeing them carefully ever since Caleb’s interrogation about whether or not the Alpha’s baby was going to be safe with them. But he’s pretty sure they won’t be directly asking him about it tonight. He’s fairly certain he’ll have to tell them at some point, though, if he chooses to stay.

It also helps to see that Chris Argent has been cuddling the toddler of the Pack throughout the entire time it took to eat, carefully handing her bites of pizza and blowing on her food so it wouldn’t burn her. He’s easy with her, like it’s not forced, and the soft smiles he gives her are something Derek never would have been able to picture on the man’s face before that night.

It’s when they’re cleaning up the trash at the table that Stiles notices he’s watching Chris with the little girl. “Chris and my dad are competing to be the better Pack Grandpa,” Stiles says with a grin. “They both spoil Abby girl rotten even though neither of them are related by blood. She has them completely wrapped around her finger. We have to remind her that she’s human and she can’t eat all of the ice cream she’s able to wrangle out of them unless she wants to be sick.”

It almost sounds too good to be true. But the annoyed look on the Sheriff’s face when he mumbles that it’s ‘not a competition’ makes Derek’s shoulders relax a little more and feels himself grin.

Stiles fixes his dad with a ‘don’t kid me’ look. “So you’re in the lead then?”

The Sheriff glares at his son, but there’s no heat behind it. “I’m babysitting for Jordan all weekend for their anniversary. I’m gonna smoke him by Monday. We’re gonna camp in the backyard and make s'mores.”

“I love s’mores!” Caleb chirps in.

The Sheriff turns such a sweet smile on his kid that Derek’s heart flip flops a little. “Well maybe you’ll have to swing by for a visit and join us. You and Abigail could get to know each other a little better.”

Caleb hops in his seat and turns his pleading eyes on Derek, who huffs in amusement. But he has to be the adult. “We wouldn’t want to intrude,” Derek tells the Sheriff. “You don’t have to let him crash your weekend.”

“Nonsense!” the man says immediately. “The more the merrier. My son’s not moving towards kids of his own and I’m getting impatient.”

Stiles makes a mock-wounded noise. “Rude! I’m not single to spite you, old man!”

The Sheriff ignores him. “Please, Derek, if you feel comfortable with it, I would love to have you and the kids over this weekend. Chris is about to have his own grandkid and he’s gonna lord it over me for the next decade that he beat me to it. Believe me when I say I would love to spend time with your kids. And don’t tell me it wouldn’t be nice to have a little playdate and rest while your kids are amused by someone else for once.”

It did sound nice. He really didn’t want to impose, but the Sheriff seemed sincere. And he had been eyeing Maisy all throughout dinner like he couldn’t quite figure out how to ask if he could hold her. Plus Caleb was begging under his breath to go eat s’mores now and camp. So he rolled his eyes at his kid and accepted. “That sounds great, actually. Just tell me when and where and we’ll swing by.”

Caleb cheered.

\----------

Before the official pack meeting started, Derek had to change Maisy’s diaper. So the Sheriff led him upstairs, and after a moment of hesitation, Derek told Caleb he could stay with Stiles, (who gave him a soft and surprised grin at the trust being offered there.) The Alpha and his wife had a baby room all set up on the second floor of the house. The changing table smelled clean but not unused, and Derek was fairly certain the little girl was who he could smell on the soft sheet covering the cushioned table.

The Sheriff waited for him to lay Maisy down before broaching the topic of Jennifer, smelling a caution. “I didn’t want to ask in front of Caleb but...can I assume their mother is no longer in the picture?”

Derek forced himself to move calmly as he cleaned his baby up. She was babbling happily and trying to munch on one of her fists and it made him want to nuzzle against her and just purr.

“She’s dead,” he said after a moment. Then he decided he may as well explain. Conversation in the living room was dropping out. The Alpha was probably listening in since one of his pack was upstairs with a strange wolf, so maybe he wouldn’t have to tell it twice. “She um, she was using me to...she wanted to have a werewolf child. She was a druid, which is like a witch but more connected to the earth I guess, and stronger, more powerful.”

He takes a breath to try and figure out what he wants to say. “Everything with her is a little bit of a blur now, and I’m not sure exactly how she made me trust her, because apparently she only wanted a werewolf pup of her own blood because of some spell she was trying to accomplish. She tried to kill Maisy on her first birthday. But I picked up Caleb early from school and we were going to surprise the girls. We got there just in time.”

The Sheriff gripped his shoulder tightly, but didn’t say anything mercifully.

“I thought something had happened on accident at first,” Derek says, then laughs without any humor. “It was like, I couldn’t see what was right in front of my eyes, even though Maisy had blood on her little chest and she was screaming. Then Jennifer pulled a knife out of her pocket and it was like all the haze cleared away and I realized I barely even knew this woman and couldn’t even remember how we met, but I knew she was going to kill my daughter and I just…” He shrugged helpfully.

“So you protected her,” the Sheriff finishes softly.

Derek can only nod around the lump in his throat. He finishes snapping Maisy’s onesie closed and pulls her up to his chest. She’s warm and nuzzles into his neck without hesitation, babbling little spitty words into his skin.

“Oh Derek,” the Sheriff says. Then he sighs. “You did a good thing, protecting your daughter. I would have done the same in your situation.”

“I killed my children’s mother,” Derek says quietly.

The Sheriff’s eyes aren’t judging him at all though. He heaves a deep sigh, then says, “I’m gonna hug you, if that’s okay.” And he does, when Derek doesn’t step away or argue.

The Sheriff’s arms are strong and warm and tug him in close like it’s not weird to hug a near-stranger when they’re falling apart in front of you. One arm goes around his back and the other ends with a hand pressed against the back of his neck. It should probably feel strange, but it’s just so damn nice to give in to the contact. It feels right to let his forehead drop a little to meet the man’s shoulder. And for a long moment, he just stands there and breathes as the Sheriff smooths a hand up and down his back.

When he finally pulls back, the Sheriff lets him go easily, but his eyes are just as wet as Derek’s are and that makes something twinge in his chest. He’s not quite sure what to do or say, so he just kisses Maisy and reaches to put all of her things back in the diaper bag.

The Sheriff clears his throat and doesn’t bother to hide the fact that he’s wiping his eyes on his sleeve. “How long ago was all this, Derek?”

“About three weeks.”

“Have you talked to anybody about what happened?”

Derek shrugs. “I called my younger sister and told her the basics. She offered to take us in but she’s in Argentina and it’s so far away and I wasn’t sure how Caleb would adjust to a whole new country. He’s been really clingy.”

“Only natural,” the Sheriff says calmly. “He’ll bounce back all right.”

“He’s having nightmares most nights,” Derek admits. He’s not even sure why he says it. But then he can’t help himself from adding to it. “He saw the whole thing. He was right behind me when we entered the apartment.”

“He’s a happy kid,” the Sheriff says. “It may take some time to get over the nightmares. We know a bit about that in my family as well. But it will get better with time. Three weeks is a very short time for a kid to deal with that kind of trauma.”

“I hope so,” is all Derek can say. He’s not sure what he’ll do if Caleb doesn’t start getting a little more sleep throughout the nights. Between sleeping with one ear open for Caleb’s distress and the nightmares Derek himself is having, he’s not sure how he’s functioning still.

“Chris said some of your family survived the attack years ago. Is there anybody else who should be with you right now?” the Sheriff asks.

“Two of my sister survived the fire, and my uncle, but he succumbed to injuries a few months later. My younger sister is with a pack she’s married into. But my older sister died a few months back. I never found out exactly what happened, but she went to work one day and just disappeared. We never found the body but...the pack bond just snapped and I knew.”

“Do you think the druid did something to her?”

Derek shrugs honestly and sadly. “I guess I won’t ever know for sure, but I wouldn’t be surprised. Maybe Laura figured out what Jennifer was trying to do. I don’t know.”

The Sheriff nods. “Well...it sounds to me like you could use a support system. This pack is young, but they’ve had to grow up fast to take care of this town. The territory has been safe and calm for a few years now. We don’t get much trouble around this area anymore. I hope you’ll choose to stick around.”

“Thank you,” Derek says, and means it.

“Also, no pressure at all, because I’m a single dad myself, but if your arms ever get tired I would gladly hold that little ball of sunshine for you,” the Sheriff says with a cheeky grin that looks just like his son’s.

Derek laughs with the lighter tone to the conversation. Then he considers it for a moment, pressing a kiss to her little fluffy head. He figures he’s got to start trusting somewhere. “You know, I think I could maybe be okay with that.”

When he hands Maisy over to the Sheriff she sniffs him and looks to her daddy like she’s asking what’s going on. The Sheriff, all the meanwhile, is just mumbling sweet things to her about how she’s beautiful and he’s so excited to meet her. Maisy must feel comfortable enough with Derek clearly not looking worried, so she revels in her new captive audience and starts babbling away with a few mentions of ‘Dada’ and ‘Cabe’ and something about ‘uice’ because apple juice is her very favorite drink since Caleb loves it so much.

When they finally make it back downstairs the Pack is settled around the living room again, purposefully casual in their chatter, though Derek can feel guilt coming off of a few wolves for listening in on her conversation with the Sheriff. He doesn’t know how to explain that he had figured it was happening what with the way the whole room had gone silent when he started explaining about Jennifer.

So he gives a weak smile to try and let them know it’s okay and fiddles with the diaper bag in his hands since he doesn’t have a baby to hide behind right now.

Which is when Caleb comes to the rescue as he does so often, tromping down the stairs with a couple ziploc bags filled with plastic animals. Stiles is right behind him with a large tub that shakes and rattles as he makes his way down the stairs behind Derek’s kid.

“Found the Lego box!” Stiles declares happily, then pauses for the briefest moment as he reads the awkward mood of the room, now that most conversation has stopped again. Then he catches sight of Maisy in his dad’s arms and grins. He crosses the room and sets the tub on the carpet next to an empty loveseat. “Caleb we can play over here while Scotty does his Alpha thing.”

Scotty rolls his eyes fondly. “Thanks, Stiles. Glad to know you respect me so much.”

“Hard to respect the kid who ate glue until he was nine, buddy,” Stiles says easily. Then he sits himself down on the carpet and doesn’t even wait for Caleb to get fully situated before he’s opening the large tub of Lego blocks and grabbing pieces out.

The Sheriff motions for Derek to come sit on the loveseat and then sits next to him before propping Maisy up so she can try to stand with little wobbly legs on his lap. He casts Chris Argent a quick look of victory, but Chris just rolls his eyes from across the room and smiles as he turns the page on the picture book he’s apparently reading to the toddler in his lap.

Derek feels his shoulders and neck unlock a little and he lets himself relax into the seat.

Scott starts the meeting.


	9. Chapter 9

When Stiles arrives at his dad’s house, he parks next to the Mom Van that Derek owns and gleefully grabs the six pack of wolfsbane infused beer, a bag of the only veggie-chips his dad will eat, and an entire grocery bag of fruits and veggies that he knows his dad won’t already have in the house. He lets himself into the house and deposits the food before heading out to the backyard where he can hear the kids playing.

Derek is sitting on the porch munching on some trail mix and watching as Abigail and Caleb jump around the sprinkler, both already soaking wet and laughing. His dad is bent over, holding onto Maisy’s tiny hands and letting her lead him around in the grass.

Derek turns when the back door opens and nods a greeting. “Hey.”

“Hey,” Stiles says in return and comes to sit on the porch step nearby but not close enough to be annoying (hopefully!) “It looks like everyone’s having fun. I guess camping is a success so far?”

Derek quirks a grin and it’s a beautiful sight. “I’m not sure exactly how much camping is happening, but the kids are happy. Your dad propped up a little tent in the shade and he’s already fed them microwaved s’mores enough for even Caleb to be satisfied.”

Stiles snorts. “Sounds about right. We Stilinski men talk a lot of smack, but I’m not sure either of us could survive a real camping trip. I figure he’ll let them nap in the tent if they want but that’ll be about as close as anyone gets to camping.”

Derek looks amused. “Not much of nature-enthusiasts, I take it?”

“Oh nature’s fine. It’s just the sleeping on the ground and peeing in the woods when you’re not sure how many fluffy woodland creatures might be watching, and all the eating canned food that never really fills you up--that’s what we can’t handle.”

Derek shakes his head, so Stiles counts it as a win. “You’re missing out. There’s nothing like being out there away from it all. It’s quiet. You don’t have to worry about anything except when you want to nap and when you want to eat. No one’s around for miles to disturb you. My sisters and I used to camp after we lost our family. Once in a while we’d skip the tent and just go full-shift and sleep under the stars and the trees.”

Stiles gapes at him. “You guys can do a full-shift? We’ve heard that some werewolves can, but I’ve never met anyone. Is it like a normal wolf shape? Because all the Pack ever does is just the brow and facial hair and ears and stuff. The closest we’ve seen was this alpha that went feral and he was just, like, huge and wild looking, but he didn’t look anything like an actual regular wolf.”

“It’s rare, but the ability was fairly common with my family. And yes, it looks like a regular wolf but a little bigger.”

“Thanks amazing,” Stiles says. “I keep trying to convince Scott to try and figure it out but he just shakes his head and says he doesn’t need to. But if Scott’s a True Alpha maybe he has a little leg up on making it to the full shift?”

Derek shrugs. “I really don’t know much about True Alphas. I suppose it’s possible.”

“Does it feel different, being in that form?”

“Thought processes are a little more simple. You don’t worry as much about complicated things. And, I don’t know how else to explain it, but thinking just feels a little different because your senses are stronger as a wolf and it’s almost like things come a little more intuitively. Like you don’t have to plan things out or think about it, you just know what you want to do.”

“Is it dangerous at all? We’ve had a few run-ins with feral omegas. Would it be easier to get lost in the shift that way?”

Derek shakes his head. “I don’t think it’s really a matter of more likely to go feral or not. You’ve still got all your normal instincts, and you’re still the same person, just with a few more instincts and a giant boost to your senses. I think as long as your anchor is strong enough it doesn’t matter what form you’re in.”

“That’s really cool,” Stiles says. He wonders what Derek’s wolf looks like in full shift. He can’t imagine any polite way to ask to see it some day, so he bites his tongue. His dad would be so proud. “Sorry if I end up asking you a ton of questions, by the way. We don’t have a single born wolf in the Pack. There was a rogue alpha a few years back that tore through the town trying to make a pack. It bit Scott, Erica, Boyd, and Isaac. The alpha was feral though and we couldn’t get it to see reason. It tore up a few people before we were able to stop it.” He’s not sure he should explain that Chris was the one to finally put an end to its time in Beacon Hills. But it had been necessary.

“It’s okay,” Derek says. “Your dad told me you’d probably have some questions. I don’t mind sharing what I know. It must be hard having a pack without any prior knowledge of werewolves.”

Stiles winces a little, because ‘hard’ doesn’t begin to describe how difficult it had been at the beginning. “It was rough there for a while. Scott didn’t become an alpha until about a year into it. We had some knowledge from Chris because he was keeping close tabs on the Pack at the beginning, afraid everyone would go feral without an alpha. But we made it. And after a while Chris started trusting us enough to let me look through some of his family’s books and I learned a lot to get me started. The town vet is a retired emissary, but we didn’t learn that for quite a while. He’s not exactly forthcoming with information, but he was willing to at least help me get in touch with some people to help me start learning what I could do after I accidentally set fire to his clinic. Long story. Turns out I’m a Spark not a full on witch, so apparently I can harness magic around me but not exactly make any magic out of nothing--and turns out Deaton had a lot of magical items in the clinic that I accidentally manipulated when I got pissed off.”

He glances at Derek. “I’m all good now though. It’s been years and I’ve got control of it. That’s part of why I have all the tattoos.” He motions at the different runes going up and down his arms. “They help me channel magic a little more easily.”

Derek eyes his tattoos a little but doesn’t comment.

“And just so you know, I won’t bring any ash for Caleb to play with if you don’t want me to. I realize it’s not safe for Maisy to be around it and I wouldn’t want to make you uncomfortable. I just, I’ve never met anyone who handles it with so much ease and certainly never a kid who can do any sort of magic. I was just so fascinated the other day. I think Caleb could really do a lot with it if he learned.”

Derek shoves a handful of trail mix in his mouth, probably to give himself a minute to think, but eventually he answers with, “I’m not sure how comfortable I am with it right now, because I don’t really know you yet. But, if we stay in Beacon Hills, I would be willing to consider it. I don’t want Caleb to have to be afraid of anything, but I would also like for him to be prepared if anything ever happened. That’s why I’ve let him at least practice getting himself and Maisy into a circle and holding it.”

“Well if you ever want, I’ll gladly work with him. But I’ll hold off unless you give me the word. I even made sure I didn’t put any bits into my pockets like usual, just in case he decided to make a grab for it.”

Derek rolls his eyes. “Yeah, I’d like to pretend he wouldn’t, but he would have probably done that. I’ll have a talk with him about not taking any ash out of your pockets in the future.”

They both smile at each other, then sit there for a moment watching the kids play and the Sheriff cheer Maisy on for her strong legs and determination.

Then Derek frowns a little and his shoulders hunch in just a bit and he looks at Stiles. “You’re good with magic now?”

Stiles can tell it’s not a joking moment, so he holds back. “I’m very good now. I won’t lose control.”

Derek shakes his head. “That’s not what I mean actually. I...with Jennifer, there was kind of this haze over most of our relationship. I remember it almost like a weird dream that I had instead of actual memories. I was just...I wondered if you would be able to tell if there’s still any of her magic clouding my memory anymore or if it’s fully gone.”

Stiles considers lying for a brief second and pretending he doesn’t know about Jennifer, but Scott had told him as soon as he could. “Scott told me what he heard,” he tells Derek gently.

Surprisingly, Derek gives him an odd look and says, “Of course he did. You’re his emissary. I knew he would. That’s why I asked.”

Stiles relaxes a little at that. Then he considers the actual question. He can tell Derek’s nervous about whatever answer he might get, but he’s not altogether sure if he would be able to tell. He settles on, “I could try. I’ve never done anything exactly like that before though, and I’m not very used to--” he gestures weakly at Derek’s general self--”your aura or whatever it would be called. But I could try if you’d like. Um, right now?”

Derek starts to look a little like he’s backed himself into a corner. Vaguely panicked. “Um…”

“Or another time,” Stiles says breezily. “Maybe without all the kids around and when we’re somewhere comfortable. I don’t really know how long it would take, and you’d probably want to be sitting on a cushy seat just in case it takes me a while.”

Derek clearly knows what he’s doing, but he still gives him a grateful smile. “Another time would be nice, I think.”

Stiles shrugs. “Sure thing. I’ll let you think about when and where. Just let me know.” Then he stands and gives Derek a little out from the conversation. “I’m gonna go tag in for my dad if you don’t mind me hanging with your daughter because he’s pretending his back isn’t hurting and that he isn’t also trying to listen in to our conversation.” The end of the sentence rises in volume like he’s calling his dad out for it.

His dad huffs across the yard from them and rolls his eyes. “I just don’t want you to scare him off, Stiles,” he calls back. “I know how you are!”

“Yeah yeah, it’s all love in this house. Yeesh.” But he still checks with Derek again. “Do you mind if I take over for him?”

Derek swallows and looks from his baby to Stiles, but he nods after a moment. “Go ahead.”

So Stiles grins. “Thanks, man. She is seriously cute!”

\----------

It takes some convincing, but the kids eventually curl up in the tent and doze off to sleep. Maisy and Caleb sleep with their foreheads almost touching and it’s possibly one of the cutest sights in the world.

Derek ends up sitting on the porch chatting with Stiles and the Sheriff, (who had insisted he be called John). The Stilinski’s are telling stories about the Pack and ridiculous things that have happened to them over the years. Derek tosses in a few of the more laughable memories he has from his own childhood and family.

It’s relaxing. And Derek can hardly believe he’s found a group of people who are honestly this welcoming. He’s tested the waters of joining other packs throughout the years. He and his sisters lived under a small pack’s protection in New York before Cora went off to “find herself.” But none of the packs he had spent time with were honestly as welcoming and inclusive as the Stilinski’s were already being.

He had even bumped into a few of the pack members the day before who had smiled and chatted with him for a few moments as he took his kids around town running errands. None of them had acted awkward or cold towards him.

It seems different here. Nice.

It feels too fast to even want to admit it, but Derek is already starting to feel like he could be happy here with the kids.

Caleb doesn’t have any bad dreams during his nap. The kids wake up after a while, hungry and ready to be fed more junk food but Stiles comes through with healthy foods and gets a full meal cooking in the kitchen with seemingly no effort at all.

It’s when they’re all seated around the kitchen table, with Maisy seated in a small high chair that has seen years of use that Derek starts to notice Stiles’s hands. He’s noticed the tattoos both at the pack night and when Stiles pointed them out earlier that afternoon, but it’s like suddenly he’s realizing what those arms are attached to and they are attached to some long and graceful fingers. Stiles is slicing vegetables into tiny pieces and handing them over to Maisy who is a little unsure about the pieces of broccoli and squash she’s being given, but she’s a trooper and she starts tucking the food away with a confused slant to her eyebrows. Stiles is laughing at every reaction she makes and cooing at her. And it’s probably the first time Derek has felt any serious form of attraction towards someone in a very long time.

He doesn’t remember feeling attraction exactly towards Jennifer. He remembers feeling horny. He remembers wanting to please her. He doesn’t remember if he was actually ever attracted to her. Maybe at moments throughout their time, but not so much in an overall sense.

That’s going to bother him later when he lets himself think about it. For now he pushes the thought away and just turns his focus back to his food and the rest of the group.

He notices a little too late that John is looking from him to Stiles and back with a little gleam in his eye. Derek tries not to blush but it’s a little bit difficult when you’re being caught out like this. John just smiles at him and lets Abigail draw him into a conversation about ponies.


	10. Chapter 10

The next two weeks are relaxing. Derek finishes getting the house in enough order that he feels comfortable letting the kids sleep there. They clear out the master bedroom and bunk together in the king-sized bed. Caleb kicks a little, but it’s a small price to pay for having his kids in reach when Derek wakes up in the middle of the night not sure if they’re back in the apartment with Jennifer or if they’re safe.

Both Caleb and Derek start sleeping a little more easily as they settle into the house. It feels more permanent than the motel. Like they’re setting down roots. Like they have a stable place to exist instead of just an attempt to put space between themselves and New York.

The Pack continues to make nice with Derek and the kids. They stop and chat when they bump into each other in town. When Derek takes his kids for a walk in the Preserve and they run into Isaac, he ends up walking with them and talking with Derek about where the borders of the territory are and where the best spot for swimming is. He gets invited to the weekly Pack meetings, and he goes each time, slowly getting more comfortable with them.

Chris hasn’t tried to play with Maisy, but he smiles softly from across the room whenever John dotes on her. Stiles tells his dad to stop gloating whenever his chest puffs up a little too much. And John just teases him back that he can’t help it if he’s Maisy’s third favorite person. Stiles rolls his eyes and tugs Caleb off to play some game or investigate a bug in the garden or something.

All in all, it’s better than Derek had imagined previously.

So it kind of figures that just as he’s telling himself he can relax and that this could be good for them, Scott drops by the house with news of a rogue alpha heading their way.

“Some of our contacts say the alpha blew through town, sniffing at different spots around town but not stopping to cause any problems,” Scott tells him. “But we’re all going to be on our guard. We don’t know where the alpha’s going or why. It hasn’t stopped to talk to anyone from what my contacts can tell. Just passed through towns at a quick rate and kept running.

“The Preserve is probably where the alpha will hit town first, considering what direction they’re coming from. That’s really why I’m giving you the heads up. Stiles has some wards up around town so he’ll know as soon as any new werewolf crosses the boundary, but you guys are the closest to this situation, whatever it is.”

“What do you want me to do?” Derek asks, glancing behind him to make sure the kids are still mostly engaged in the television show they’re watching. Caleb looks over at them but turns back to the screen without being told.

Scott seems to flounder for just a moment, before he settles on, “Um, nothing, actually. We don’t expect you to fight or anything like that. We’re hoping it won’t come to a fight anyway. But just, be on your guard. Keep your kids in sight for a few days?”

Derek nods. “Of course.”

“If you’d rather not be here, I know the Sheriff would set you up for a few day in his house. It could be safer if you’re worried.”

“No we couldn’t impose like that. He doesn’t need a bunch of extra bodies in the house. We’ll be fine,” Derek says, but he’s hoping he’s not lying. It doesn’t sound like the alpha is feral, but if it’s not stopping to talk to any other pack, who really knows?

“First of all, don’t tell him I said this, but I know the Sheriff gets a little lonely in his house now that Stiles has his own place. Second of all, I’m sure it will all be fine. The alpha’s probably going to pass through as fast as they did every other town. I just wanted you to know ahead of time. Stiles is trying to figure out a way to make the wards repel supernatural creatures who have bad intentions towards the Pack, but he keeps telling me it’s a lot more complicated than it might seem. Apparently ‘bad intentions’ is too vague for most wards to hold. So we’re just telling the Pack to be on high alert and to let me know if they see anything. You don’t have a phone yet, do you?”

Derek shakes his head. “It hasn’t seemed important enough to replace yet, sorry.”

“No worries,” Scott brushes him off. “Just, if something goes wrong you can howl for us and we’ll be over here as fast as we can.”

“I’ll do that,” Derek agrees, because he’d have to be stupid not to be happy about the offer of help from the Pack who doesn’t technically owe him anything even though they’re letting him stay in their territory for a trial basis.

\----------

Things are fine for a few days. Except for keeping the kids indoors a little more than they are used to. But every time Derek takes them outside, he’s sniffing the wind in hyperawareness of any new smell and it’s making him too anxious. Maisy won’t move more than a foot or two away from him as soon as they get outside, and Caleb’s not having fun when Derek keeps spending more time looking out into the trees than watching him do silly things.

Which is why they’re in the house when the really weird shit starts happening.

Derek in the library just off the living room doing a little mix of Tai Chi and yoga stretches because he’s trying to calm down and the library has floor to ceiling windows that are letting the mid-afternoon heat soothe his tired muscles into unclenching. He’s listening to Maisy play in her playpen in the living room. Caleb is drawing pictures and then bringing them to his sister and narrating some story about a butterfly who is trying to make friends.

Derek’s first thought when he hears the front door creak open is that Caleb has decided to go outside and hunt for butterflies. He rolls his eyes and drops the pose he’s in to head after him. But then he hears Caleb start yelling for him, and his voice is definitely not coming from outside.

He races into the living room. Caleb is standing beside the playpen. The door is wide open and swinging shut and there is a mass of...something in their house. It’s the size of a person but fuzzy and muted colors and it almost looks like a cloud of dust and sand except that it moves in an almost humanoid fashion.

It moves a foot further into the room and that’s all the incentive Derek needs to jump over his couch and heft both of his kids into his arms. He makes to move for the door, but the mass of swirling whatever blocks it and doesn’t look like it wants to let them out of the house. So he backs away slowly. He can’t fight with his kids in both arms and he knows it.

“Caleb,” the says quietly, “Can you reach the Funny Dirt in the diaper bag or do I need to go get it?”

Caleb’s eyebrows frown as he thinks about that intently. “I can’t get it out of the bag, Dad.” He shakes his head sadly.

Derek sets Caleb down on the floor against the arm of the couch so he’ll at least have an entire couch between the kids and any sudden movements from the thing. It’s still not moving away from the door.

He hands Maisy to Caleb and motions for them to stay put. Then he shuffles slowly to the side, eyeing the thing to see how it will react. It doesn’t. He inches his way across the room. The diaper bag is against the far wall and the closer Derek gets to it, the more tensed his muscles get to prepare to leap back for his kids. But the thing doesn’t move.

There’s a high buzzing sound coming from it when he reaches the bag. Then it moves forward and Derek doesn’t even think. He leaps for his children and shoves the bag to the floor, digging for the ash. As soon as he finds the ziplocs, he just lifts it up and pops it with his claws so that Caleb can reach the ash. And later he will be so damn proud of his son for not even hesitating. The ash starts to fall out of the holes Derek has made but they immediately form a circle around the three of them.

Maisy is growling a tiny rattle in her chest. And Caleb’s face is a mask of fierceness but Derek can smell how nervous he is.

The mass is moving towards them.

“Do we have enough ash to circle that thing too?” Derek asks his son.

Caleb nods, but he doesn’t quite look sure.

The mass is only about eight feet away, almost to the couch. It’s slinking slowly across the floor, heading straight for them.

“Baby, I need you to open the circle and let me out.”

Caleb shakes his head frantically. “We’re safe inside the circle. I won’t let it in!”

Derek pulls him close to kiss his head. “I know that, pup. You need to keep your sister safe but I need to figure out what this thing is. Break the circle for me.”

Caleb burrows into his chest and mumbles into his shirt, “I don’t have to. You can always cross my circles.”

What.

Derek reaches a hand out to press against the circle’s barrier and he finds he can easily cross it. Like it’s not even there.

That shouldn’t be possible. But it also shouldn’t be possible for Mountain Ash to hold a druid in place either. And he’s already seen Caleb do that too.

Derek breaks away from Caleb’s grasp gently and sets Maisy closer to him on the floor. The circle is about four feet in diameter. “When I get out, I’m gonna try and get this thing to leave. If I can’t, I want you to shrink the circle and use any leftover ash to circle that thing. Okay?”

Caleb looks like he’s going to argue, except the mass is almost to them. It’s buzzing and moving slowly their way.

“It’ll be okay, pup,” Derek says and calmly steps out of the circle. He feels a slight tingle when he crosses it, but there’s no resistance.

The thing stops moving when he steps out of the circle. It freezes in place, other than the swirling of its form. It makes another buzzing noise, then crosses the space between them.

Derek panics and slices at it with his claws. They hit something solid and the thing jumps away. So it must not be actually made of dust. There’s blood on his claws. It doesn’t smell like any blood he’s ever encountered, but he knows blood when he sees it.

The thing is buzzing again and tendrils are waving out from the main mass. He’s probably made it angry.

He rolls his neck and lets the shift take over. Then he hunches over at it and roars with everything he has.

The thing crumbles down upon itself. So Derek leaps and attacks.

It jumps out of the way just in time and dives to the side, rolling away. He follows, swiping at it with his claws whenever he can get close. He falls into a game of cat and mouse, diving for the mass and it rolling away or jumping from his reach.

Finally it moves too slowly, and he manages to shove his weight into it. The thing goes flying into the wall and leaves a large dent right next to the kitchen doorway. He tries to reach it before it gathers its senses, but just as he goes leaping at it, the thing ducks out of the way. He comes at it, but it jumps at him and hits him solidly around the waist. They go down in a tangle of limbs, and Derek realizes he can feel a humanoid body underneath the swirling image of dust and debris. And it’s on top of him and grabbing for his arms.

He’s probably going to die in front of his kids.

The thing leans in and lets out this buzzing sound that is so loud it makes his ears ring. He feels his face shift back to human for a brief moment before he can force it back to the surface.

Then the thing goes flying off of him and lands on the floor, halfway into the kitchen. It leaps back up, but it’s already surrounded by Mountain Ash. The buzzing becomes almost a scream as it fights against the barrier. It creates explosions of light wherever it hits. But the barrier doesn’t break even as it pounds on the wall surrounding it.

Derek lets himself breathe.

“Dad! Dad! Are you okay? Dad!”

He pulls himself to his feet and goes back to the kids. The circle they’re sitting in is barely big enough for Maisy to stretch out in. And she’s starting to tap at the circle in curiosity. Derek is glad to see Caleb’s not letting her pass over it though, because it holds against her tiny hand and she frowns at it in consternation.

“You can drop the circle around you two,” Derek tells Caleb. “We’re going to get out of this house. Can you put the last of the Funny Dirt in your pockets?”

Caleb nods and waves at the circle. Derek tries not to feel weird about the way the ash just easily slips through the air into Caleb’s jeans pocket until there’s nothing left. Then Caleb flings himself at Derek’s legs and holds on with all his might. Derek rubs his back for a moment, but he’s focused on getting his babies out of the house. So he slings the diaper bag on his shoulder, lifts Maisy in arm and lifts Caleb with the other.

“Can you hold the circle if we go outside?” he asks his kid.

Caleb nods. “I think so. It’s hitting it really hard.”

Derek kisses his forehead. “It’s okay if it drops. We’re going to get in the car and drive away as fast as I can. Then it won’t matter if it drops.”

He makes it out the door without the circle dropping. The creature is still screaming and the buzzing screech is getting so loud it almost hurts. He needs to get his kids away.

He slams the door behind him and hurries for the car. But that’s when the McCall Pack comes running into the clearing. Stiles is riding on Scott’s back and it looks like everyone who can fight is there except for John. Derek does a double-take when he realizes Chris Argent is sliding off of Boyd’s back and onto the ground, already slinging a bow off his shoulder and knocking an arrow as he moves in behind the Pack.

“Are you okay?” Stiles shouts as they run towards him.

“There’s something in the house,” Derek says. “I don’t know what it is, but Caleb trapped it in a circle.”

Stiles grins at his kid. “Good job, man! Where in the house is it?”

“The living room,” Derek answers. “Go in the front door and you’ll see it.”

Scott motions for Boyd and Erica. “You guys stay with them. Everybody else with us.”

They move swiftly to the house. Scott tells Jackson and Isaac to go around the house and find another way in to cut it off just in case. They break off without argument and cut around the house.

Scott leads the way inside, shifted and ready for a fight. Stiles is right behind him, his fingertips glowing. Argent, Kira, Jordan, and Liam trail in after.

Derek tunes in to listen. The buzzing sounds loud enough to hurt his ears again when he does, but he’s at least able to hear Scott begin talking to the thing.

“Who are you? What do you want?”

The buzzing lowers in volume, as if it’s no longer yelling. Then it goes silent.

“But you’re dead,” he hears Stiles say, clear as day.

Erica and Boyd share a silent look and both pop their claws out.

“If it’s a frickin zombie again,” Erica mutters, “I’m not getting within ten feet.”

“It’s not a zombie,” Boyd replies calmly. But his claws are still out.

“It took me three weeks to shower that smell off,” Erica says petulantly.

They both go silent when there's more talking inside the house. “He told us you were dead,” Stiles says, and he sounds wary. “How do we know you’re telling the truth?”

The buzzing picks up, like it’s talking to Stiles.

“Then why are you bleeding?” Scott cuts in. “Did you attack them? I saw blood on Derek’s shirt.”

It buzzes again for a long moment.

“Hold still,” Stiles says.

There’s a long pause.

Then Stiles sighs. “I’m gonna go check with Derek. You watch her.”

He exits the house with a frown on his face, but he’s not running, so it can’t be that bad. When he reaches Derek he looks him over, probably noting the blood on his shirt and the fact that his arms are healing cuts.

“Derek, what did your intruder look like to you?”

“Like a swirling thing of dust. What does it look like to you?”

Stiles makes a face. “A pissed off alpha chick who’s also scared out of her mind. She says...she says she’s Laura, your sister.”

“That’s impossible! She died almost five months ago.”

“I know what you told my dad. Is there any chance that she didn’t actually die?”

“I felt the pack bond snap. That doesn’t just happen, Stiles.”

The emissary ran a hand down his face tiredly. “What if it was magic? What if Jennifer broke it?”

Derek has never heard of any magic being breaking pack bonds. But then again, he hasn’t spent much time with druids other than Jennifer either. “I don’t know. I’ve never heard of anyone doing that before.”

“Can I…?” he makes a motion at Derek.

Derek nods.

Stiles eyes spark a bright blue and his tattoos start glowing. Caleb starts to giggle and there’s a tingling that hits him as Stiles makes some strange motions at them. It lasts for almost two minutes, and Derek tries not to let it set him on edge, but he’s starting to freak out. Except the brush of magic feels warm and calm, not like anything he’s ever felt before. It’s a heady rush of energy, like the endorphin release after a really good run.

Then all of a sudden, the light goes out and Stiles just looks like a normal human again. But he’s frowning. “She put it on all three of you. There’s like a magic residue or something. The alpha in there has it too. I think Jennifer did some sort of masking spell to hide you from each other. The alpha said she was yelling at you but it was like you couldn't hear her. She said she couldn't make out your features clearly or even smell you. She said she only knew it was you because there were three shapes, one the size of a grown man, and two the size of your kids.”

Derek’s not sure what his face must be showing because he thinks he might be sick. Or need to sit down. His jaw hurts from clenching and he’s barely keeping his claws from popping out.

“It’s okay!” Stiles says. “Hey. Breathe. We’ll figure this out. I'm great at what I do, and figuring out crazy supernatural messes is what I do. We’ll fix this.” He touches Derek’s arm and then runs a hand down Caleb’s back. “I’ll be right back.”

It should probably bother him that Stiles just scent marked him and one of his kids.

It definitely should. Probably.

“Stiles,” he calls before the man can get too far.

The man practically spins on a dime.

“Ask her what mom’s favorite ice cream was.”

Stiles nods. Then he hurries back inside the house and makes that his first question. “What was your mother’s favorite ice cream? Asking for a friend.”

There’s a moment of buzzing. 

Stiles doesn't even bother to raise his voice when he says, “She says it was Moose Tracks, but that she used to lie and pretend it was Sherbet because that was your dad’s favorite flavor.”

Derek’s vision flashes blue and he might be embarrassed to admit later that he starts to whine in his chest.

Boyd pats him on the back, claws away, and says to the listening crowd in the house, “I think that’s what he was waiting to hear. He looks about ready to hyperventilate.”

Erica swings open the van’s sliding door and pushes Derek to sit on the floorboard.

“What’s going on, Daddy?” Caleb asks. “What happened?”

Derek shakes his head at his kid because he can't begin to answer that right now. “It’s gonna be okay, pup.”

“Stiles will take care of it?”

“I hope so,” he says honestly.

Then he tunes back in to hear Scott finish relaying Boyd’s message. “Okay damn. We have a very high chance that this is actually Derek’s sister. They have some sort of magical glamour on them so she can’t see them and they can’t see her--at least not normally. Derek said you look the same to him as they did to you. I think you’re right. I think Jennifer put a spell on you guys to keep you apart. I’m gonna need to research a bit. But let’s get you out of this circle. Just maybe don’t go lunging at him again until he can see you clearly.”

The Pack exits the house calmly, with the swirling mass right behind Stiles. Scott pulls them to a stop within speaking distance for the humans, but not too close for Derek to think he couldn’t take off if the thing that is probably his sister but not proven to be his sister leapt at him again.

“Okay, we need to stay calm,” Stiles says, though he’s mostly looking at Derek. “She says she won’t come at her if you promise not to run away. Also, I know you can't see her, but she makes a convincing argument.”

“It’s her face,” Argent breaks in. “I know you can't see her clearly but I’ve met Laura Hale a few times. And as long as she’s not a ghost or shapeshifter, I’d believe that’s her.”

The mass makes a step towards Argent, who doesn’t flinch, even when the buzzing picks up.

Scott holds out an arm to keep it from getting closer to Argent. “He’s my father-in-law. If you threaten him I will have issues with you and we can just send you on your way instead of letting Stiles break down the magic. Understand?”

The thing buzzes and a tendril of dust waves at Derek. Then everyone in the Pack is looking at him.

“What?”

Stiles makes a face. “She’s asking why you’re in a pack with an Argent.” Then he looks at Argent and says, “Maybe you need to like put out an add to werewolves that you’re not hunting anymore.”

Argent rolls his eyes. “Yeah Stiles, that’ll go over great with all my hunting contacts. They’ll be glad to share info anytime I ask them, especially if I go and explain how my son-in-law is a werewolf. See how long it takes before the entire hunter community invades the town.”

Then he just slings his bow on his shoulder and starts walking for the tree-line.

“Are we good here?” Isaac asks. “I was on a date.”

Scott and Stiles share a look, and then surprisingly both try to share a look with Derek.

“Are you gonna freak if we let the Pack leave?” Stiles asks. “The two of us will stay so we can figure this whole magic thing out, but do you care if everyone else goes?”

Derek isn’t sure how to answer. He’s still not sure that thing is really Laura. But only family or maybe close friends knew about the stupid ice cream thing. It had been a joke among his Pack back when. And if there’s even a slight chance his sister is still alive, he knows he has to take it. So he swallows and tells them it’s fine.

“Awesome,” Stiles says. “Scott, I’ll ride with them to the store. You show her the way.”

Scott doesn’t even argue. He and the thing take off together into the trees. The rest of the Pack starts to head home as well. It leaves just Derek, his kids, and Stiles standing there next to the van.

Stiles motions back to the house. “Do you need anything? We might be at the store for a few hours before I can figure out how to break the magic.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So surprise....!! (Except not, because you probably read my tags and my pre-story notes. Laura's finally here.)


	11. Chapter 11

The store turns out to be called Skin, Scales, And Fur. Along the way to it, Stiles explains that it’s the store he owns in town. He makes skin creams, lotions, shampoos and such, then sells them for a living. He tends to get a lot of repeat customers because he mixes just a hint of magic into the products to make them work better than your average product. He also explains that he keeps a bunch of magical gear and a giant library of supernatural books in the back rooms. It’s where he does all his research whenever there’s ‘something hinky going on in Beacon Hills.’ (Stiles’s words exactly.)

The store looks unassuming from the outside, but Derek can smell electricity and magic from across the street when they park. He gives himself an extra moment to calm down by pretending to check Maisy’s diaper bag for something before untucking her from the carseat and letting Stiles lead them inside.

It feels partially like entering the lair of a dangerous animal. Only this animal can do magic and keep him from leaving ever again without him even being able to stop it.

On a certain level, Derek knows Stiles would never do that. But he can’t help hunching into himself as he enters the building with his kids. The magic is almost thick enough to taste.

Stiles is chattering about the way the store is organized and appears to miss his discomfort completely. He leads them through the main room and into the back area of the store. His hands glow on the doorknob leading into the back, then swings it open for them to enter.

He’s not sure what he expected. Probably bubbling spells next to old bookshelves covered in dust and maybe light that barely filters in through the windows. But the back rooms are inviting and full of sunlight. It’s a large room made up mostly of empty floor space. Straight ahead, there’s a comfy looking couch under the one huge window that lights the room. On the right hand wall, there’s a desk with a laptop and large book. Almost the entire rest of the wall is taken up by a massive whiteboard that has scattered newspaper clippings, marketed bullet points and questions written, and a few pictures. There’s also a door along that side of the wall, but it sounds so silent and smells like nothing and Derek assumes there’s a spell blocking it from view of supernatural senses. There are the floor to ceiling bookshelves on the far left wall, but though the books look old, they look well cared for and there’s no dust to be seen.

Over to the back corner of the room is a small spiral staircase. Stiles explains that it leads to the apartment space above the shop. It’s where he lives. He lets them know he’s going to need a while to research but they’re welcome to make themselves at home and if they get bored they can go watch TV in his apartment upstairs.

Derek’s not so sure he wants to intrude on Stiles’s private space without the man himself coming with them. So he sets up Caleb on the floor with the paper and crayons they had snagged from the house and tries to get Maisy to nap on his shoulder since it’s her normal afternoon time anyway. She's probably too wound up so he starts humming quietly and rocks her as he paces across the room.

It only takes about two circuits around the room before he notes that the bookshelves give off a very unwelcoming feeling. He frowns but doesn't stop humming, hoping Maisy won't pick up on his change in mood. Then he makes his next circuit take him closer to the books.

It’s colder near them, and his skin tingles like that feeling you get when something predatory is watching you. It’s unsettling.

“I have the shelves warded,” Stiles says, not turning around from his laptop but somehow knowing what’s bothering him. “It’s a last ditch effort to prevent anyone from getting to them. The store is heavily warded, but these are my most dangerous possessions.”

“Books are dangerous?” Caleb chimes in, sounding amazed.

Stiles snorts and turns in his chair long enough to grin at his kid. “Knowledge is power, my man. And those books have a lot of very dangerous knowledge.” Then he looks to Derek. “The shelves have a bit of a way to them. They probably wouldn't hurt you, but for everyone's happiness please don't touch them. And the same goes to you, Caleb. The shelves don't like to be touched by most people. It’s not like Mountain Ash where it listens to you if you believe hard enough.”

Caleb eyes the bookshelf, then shrugs. “Okay.”

Way too easy. Derek won’t be letting Caleb ever stay in this room without supervision.

Scott arrives with the swirly-looking-possibly-Laura-thing before too long. Something in the room buzzes, and Stiles goes to the door to let them in.

Scott nods at Stiles then promptly goes to stretch out on the couch and get comfortable.

“You’re staying a while?” Stiles asks him.

“Chris is with Allison so I'm good to stay until you don't need me.”

Derek assumes it's more that he’s not willing to leave his emissary alone with werewolf they still don't know very well and an unknown alpha. Even if it is Derek’s sister.

The shape buzzes and Stiles waves a hand at it. “Knock yourself out. I'm gonna need a little time to figure this out as it is.”

It moves to the whiteboard and grabs a red marker. Then, in very large handwriting, it writes out, “You are an IDIOT.” The last word is even underlined twice.

Derek has to consider that this probably is his sister. He growls a little under his breath. “It’s a little hard to fight magic.”

“She can't hear you,” Scott says. “She said it’s like a buzzing or ringing in her ears whenever you say something.”

Derek barely catches the blue marker that flies at him. And he definitely doesn't roll his eyes at the reminder of who’s the alpha in this pack and who’s the beta and should always listen to their big sister. It’s not like he doesn't have that speech memorized already.

He’s no longer holding on to much doubt that this is Laura.

“What's that big word?” Caleb asks.

And there goes the shaky feeling that had been growing in his chest, making him want to cry.

He huffs and walks over to the board so he can erase the ‘IDIOT.’ In its place he writes, “Sorry I couldn't fight magic, snotbreath.”

“I don't mean THAT you complete doorknob! Why didn't you check your email?” After a moment, the blurry arm adds, “Cora’s pack found out I was alive almost two weeks ago. I've been looking for you.”

Okay. That's a lot less awful than blaming him for what happened with Jennifer. He’s all right with that.

“I left my phone in New York. Didn't want to be followed.”

There’s a long pause, as if Laura’s thinking over how to respond. The she writes, “The Callaveri Pack moved the body. You're not a suspect.”

He settles on, “Good,” as his reply.

She draws a big exclamation mark next to a question mark, stabbing at the board to make the dots, so she's probably pissed. She’s buzzing again so she's also probably growling threats under her breath.

And yep, now Stiles is grinning and raising an eyebrow as she continues. “Not sure that’s anatomically possible,” he interrupts, “even for a werewolf.”

Laura goes back to writing. “I thought you didn't get to Maisy in enough time. There was a lot of blood in the apartment.”

He smooths a hand down his baby’s back. She’s warm and he can tell from the way she’s breathing that she’s hit that spot where she’s fighting to keep her eyes open.

“I got there in time. But it’s a long story. We’ll talk after this is fixed.” There’s no way he’s explaining everything with Caleb listening in. His son’s been through enough.

Laura grabs the eraser from the side of the board and starts erasing their conversation.

Derek decides to ask his own questions. He lets her finish then starts near the top so they’ll have more room. “Where have you been?”

“Mexico.”

“Why?”

“She sold me to someone who specializes in unusual things.”

He’s gonna need the full story on that later. It doesn't sound good. “How did you get out? Do we need to be on the watch?”

“They got shut down. A large pack came to break out one of their own. We’re good.”

“How long were you there?”

“I got out two weeks ago. Made my way to New York, talked to the Callaveri Pack, made my way to you.”

They both stand there in silence for a moment. Derek knows there’s probably plenty of things he could be asking Laura right now but he really just wants to smell her. Whatever’s masking her appearance is also masking her scent. He should have been able to smell her back at the house, especially when she bled on him.

“Are you still bleeding from earlier?” he asks.

“You’re such a DAD,” she mocks him gently. “I’m fine. Alpha healing factor and all that.”

That’s good at least.

“Thanks for not using your claws,” he tells her, because if she had popped them out, he would have still been healing. As it is, the little scrapes on his arms are all healed up, though there’s a little dried blood leaving itchy spots on his skin. She must have used her fingernails.

“I didn’t need you in pieces,” she writes. “I tried to roar at you, but I guess it didn’t work.”

“I lost my shift for a couple seconds,” he admits. “But that’s when Caleb hit you.”

“We’ll be talking about that later.”

Yeah, they would have to. Maybe John would be willing to come over and distract the kids. He had been dropping by and inviting them over for little visits ever since that one “camping” experience in the yard. The kids loved him.

And oftentimes Stiles would show up if they were at his dad’s place. Then John would find a way to let him end up away from the hubbub of the kids so that he ended up sitting and talking to Stiles. He was pretty sure the man was matchmaking. But he wasn’t sure if Stiles had realized it yet.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the chapter where the tragic past really hits home. Derek explains everything to Laura, including the reference to a time he had sex with Jennifer when he wasn't feeling fully aware / present in the moment. Also...this is the chapter where Derek realizes Jennifer may have induced the miscarriages she had. If you can't handle it, just skip to the next chapter. It gets better, I promise. But the next chapter is a wrap up of this conversation, so...be kind to yourself!

When Stiles figures it out, it’s starting to get close to dinner time. Maisy’s awake and ready to be active. Derek ends up holding her hands and letting her walk around the room, alternated with letting her bounce in his lap when he gets tired of bending over.

Laura’s sitting on the floor near the couch, talking to Scott, but Derek’s trying not to pay much attention because it’s frustrating following the one-sided conversation. Scott’s told her a little about the Beacon Hills territory and Pack. And it sounds like Laura’s told him about her time in Mexico if Scott’s questions are any indication.

Then when Derek’s wondering if he needs to ask if they can leave so he can go feed his kids, Stiles kicks back from the desk and lets the rolling chair spin. His hands are in the air and he smells...elated. “Who’s the best emissary in this whole town?”

“You! You, you, you!” Caleb chants, ready to celebrate with him.

“I’ve got the cure,” Stiles says. “Just let me gather the supplies.” He goes through the door that leads back to the store, comes back with a few items, then goes into the other doorway. (The room is oddly silent even with him in it. Derek loses all trace of his heartbeat when the door shuts behind him. But Scott doesn’t look worried at all, so he assumes that’s fine.) Stiles returns with his arms full of things, many of them that smell.

“Give me a salt circle big enough for all four of them, Scotty,” he calls, as he opens glass bottles and begins shaking things into a large bowl.

Scott doesn’t act like it’s odd to be helping with a spell. They have an interesting dynamic as an Alpha and emissary pair. He just grabs the tube of salt from the desk where Stiles had set it, and begins pouring out a large circle near the middle of the floor. It makes sense why the floorspace is so large and open now. It’s probably used to having strange spells performed on it.

Stiles grabs a piece of chalk from somewhere and crouches down to scribble down some symbols on the outside of one spot in the circle, then makes the same image on the opposite side. Next, he takes the metal bowl from his desk, full of smelly powders and some leaves and he tosses a few pinches of the mixture throughout the inside of the circle.

“Okay,” he says, after that’s done, “the circle is ready. I need the four of you to get inside and it would probably be helpful if you would hold hands--if Maisy won’t do that, she can sit on your lap, Derek.”

Caleb looks at Derek with begging eyes, like he’s waiting for permission to jump inside.

Derek rolls his eyes. “We have to be careful. You don’t want to mess up what Stiles made.” They’ve been working on empathy for ruining other people’s things.

Caleb grins and doesn’t argue. He carefully steps one foot inside, and makes this little shiver motion that’s punctuated with a peal of giggles. Then he’s inside, looking like he can hardly contain himself. “It feels silly,” he announces.

Stiles laughs. “I wasn’t sure you’d be able to feel it, but I guess that means you can.”

“Come on, Daddy! It’s safe and quiet in here!”

Derek enters the circle as cautiously as his son did, but he feels nothing different inside than he had felt outside the circle. Laura enters the circle, and Caleb backs up until he’s pressed against Derek’s legs.

“Are we sure it’s Aunt Laura?” he asks no one in particular.

“Fairly sure,” Derek replies calmly.

“What happens if it’s not her?”

“Then Scott and I will take care of it,” Stiles says easily, so Derek doesn’t have to answer. “It would be best if you could sit down in a circle. This will probably feel a little bit like a headrush, and I don’t want anyone falling over. Laura sit in front of this symbol, and Derek in front of the other one. Caleb I want you over here between them. It’s okay if you guys don’t end up in a perfect circle.”

Stiles walks around the saltline, making a face. “Slight adjustments. Laura hold hands with Caleb and Derek. And Derek, can you hold Maisy’s hand and Caleb’s hand at the same time so you’re connected to them both?”

When Derek touches Laura’s hand, it feels right. It’s the right size, and the right fit. He wants to hug her.

Maisy thinks it’s a game, and she starts babbling as soon as Caleb takes her hand and Derek overlaps both of theirs. She starts poking at Derek’s knuckles with her free hand and talking about something that sounds like she’s probably trying to play Patty Cake.

“All right, here goes nothing,” Stiles says. “It feels right. Just keep holding on to each other until the spell is done and everyone think about each other--like nice happy thoughts, no name-calling.”

Derek rolls his eyes, knowing Laura is probably doing the same.

Stiles grabs his metal bowl. “Might want to close your eyes so I don’t throw this junk and blind you. I’ll watch out for Maisy.”

Derek trusts him enough to close his eyes. Then he waits as the powdered mixture is sprinkled over them.

“You can open,” Stiles says. “Not done yet,” he adds quickly, so that Derek’s not too disappointed when he opens his eyes and sees Laura as still a blurry mess. Then Stiles dips some oil out of a jar onto the two chalk markings he had drawn earlier before swirling a bit of it right in the middle of the circle between their linked arms. “Last step,” he mutters as he grabs another jar from the desk. He lights a small clump of some kind of leaves with a lighter, waits for it to catch, then drops it on the oil in the center.

The smell is excruciating for a long second and Derek fights to breathe. Then there’s a puff of smoke when the oil catches fire. Then the fire goes out like it’s being choked and all of a sudden a head-rush hits Derek so hard his vision blurs.

“Whoah!” Caleb says.

Then Derek’s shaking his head to clear it, and he can see Laura doing the same across from him. He can hear his own heartbeat stutter. Laura grins at him, but her eyes are growing wet and he can’t not tease her.

“Gonna cry, wusspants?”

She sniffs. “I might, poopbreath.”

He rolls his eyes. “It wasn’t poop, Laura, for the last time.”

She crosses the circle and pulls him in. “Shut up.”

He lets himself be grabbed and tucks his nose against her neck. He won’t ever take her scent for granted again.

“Aunt Laura!” Caleb cheers. Then he dive-bombs into them and almost knocks them over.

Maisy is crawling from Derek’s lap into Laura’s and making her cutest growling that she does when she wants someone to notice her. Laura lets herself be climbed on. Derek leans back enough to watch as Laura flashes her eyes at the baby. “Hello, sweet things! I’ve missed you both so much!”

Then the baby flashes her little gold eyes back and Laura pauses. She looks at Derek in surprise. “She’s already got her eyes?”

“Semi-involuntary still,” he says, “but yeah. I think her wolf was forced to the surface. She started doing it while we were trying to pack up to leave New York.”

Laura sighs. “We’ll have to talk.”

He nods sadly.

For once it’s Scott interrupting the moment instead of Caleb. “Do baby wolves not usually show signs of shifting so young?”

Laura stood up gracefully, Maisy tucked in her arms and Caleb clinging to her back, like it was a part of her daily routine. “Usually wolves don’t start shifting til around four or five. Usually just the eyes first, then the claws and face later. Do you really not have any born wolves to ask questions like that from?” Laura asked. She sounded surprised, but Derek was glad Scott didn’t take it as a rude jibe. He was nice like that.

“We’re all bitten,” he said with a shrug. “But my wife’s having our first baby almost any day now and well, we don’t know much of what to expect. I’m pretty sure it’s a wolf, but I can’t really explain why. I think it’s just kind of instinct.”

Stiles slapped Scott’s shoulder. “I didn’t know you thought Baby Uno was going to be a wolf! You’re not supposed to keep things like that from me! I wanna know all the things, Scott! I gotta be ready for when that baby gets here!”

He was practically whining. It shouldn’t have been the least bit attractive, but well...a guy who was trying to be good for an as-of-yet-unborn baby? Yeah, wonder why that was arousing to him. Not.

And god his hormones were smelling obvious because Laura was raising an eyebrow at him. Derek rolled his eyes and slid Caleb off Laura’s back, more because he was probably going to fall off and hurt himself than because Laura couldn’t hold him.

\----------

Derek takes Laura back to the house when everything is finished at Stiles’s shop. She’s gracious--for once--and doesn’t needle him in the car right away about Stiles. She waits until the kids are put to bed in the newly cleaned secondary bedroom closest to the master bedroom. The kids have only been sleeping apart from him for naps, but he figures it’s probably time that they work on getting back into a normal routine, especially with him needing to talk to Laura when Caleb won’t be able to fake sleep and listen in.

It’s a little tough getting Caleb to climb into bed. He was wound up, wanting to show Laura every part of the house. Maisy’s easier, just laid in her play pen, set up on the floor of the small bedroom. Derek had mostly cleaned the room out, so there was plenty of space for her. He wasn’t going to put Maisy in bed with Caleb though, because he always had to play the wall between them with the way Caleb kicked and twisted in his sleep.

Eventually Caleb calmed enough to lay down so Derek could read to him. Laura slipped out of the room, so Caleb would stop trying to ask her questions and interrupt the story to make it last longer. It took a little longer than usual, but finally, Caleb’s eyes closed and Derek knew he was far enough gone to sneak out of the room.

“Sorry,” he tells Laura quietly when he came back to the living room to find her poking around at the boxes of Peter’s family’s things that he was debating donating.

“For what?”

“Caleb and Maisy have been sleeping with me except for naps this last week. I’ve been trying to get them back to sleeping without me, but, well, Caleb’s not as ready as Maisy is for that. He hasn’t been sleeping too well. Don’t be surprised if I have to get up at some point tonight.”

Laura sighs and falls onto the couch. Then she pats the cushion for him to join her. He doesn’t need convincing. He stretches out on what’s left of the couch and rests his head on her lap. She immediately starts running a hand through his hair, petting and fiddling with it as she studies him.

“So what’s with that emissary Stiles?”

He rolls his eyes because he knows what she means, but he’s not going to make it easy for her. “He’s pretty decent at being an emissary even though the Pack is really young. His dad’s the Sheriff and a good man.”

“I don't wanna hear about his dad, Derek. You like him. Don't you? You have a crush on him.”

“He’s nice. That’s all. And he likes Caleb a lot, is careful with Maisy.”

“And apparently you wanna roll all over him if those heart eyes were anything to go by.”

He pinches her because really, he can’t not. “So what. Nothing’s gonna happen. He’s an emissary to another Pack. Besides, I don't think the kids need another addition to the family just yet. We’re still dealing with the last one’s effects.”

That at least gets her to shut up.

Eventually she breaks the silence with the dreaded question. “So tell me, baby brother, what happened?”

He tries not to hunch in on himself, but it’s hard. “How much do you already know?”

“Jennifer’s dead. She wouldn’t be without a really friggin’ good reason.”

“You obviously knew something was wrong if she ‘sold you’ to someone. How much did you figure out before getting back to New York?”

Laura’s scent goes a little sour. “I didn’t know much at first. Something started feeling weird a few months ago. Like, one of my coworkers at the gym saw pictures of the kids with you guys on my phone and asked how long you had been together. They did the math and were surprised because Jennifer would have had to get pregnant almost immediately after meeting you. And it was like this lightbulb came on a little bit. I realized that you really hadn’t known her long before she was pregnant with Caleb. But my coworker just laughed off whatever my expression was and said that clearly you both loved each other or were at least still banging regularly because you’d had another kid. And I said that yeah, your girlfriend was a little baby-obsessed and was ready to have another one almost as soon as Caleb was born.”

Derek makes a wounded sound in his chest when he realizes something for the first time.

Laura squeezes his shoulder. “Hey. It’s okay.”

But it isn’t. Jennifer had miscarriages between Caleb and Maisy. It’s why there was more of an age gap between them. Jennifer had tried to get pregnant almost right away. But she’d miscarried each time after a few months. He had been shocked when she wanted to keep trying. But whenever he had protested, not sure if he could go through the pain of losing a child one more time--much less putting her through that…!

He would have never normally agreed to that. He has a very blurry memory of Jennifer riding him only a week after miscarrying for the third time. He remembers feeling...nothing. Just...lying there and letting her do it. He doesn’t even remember touching her. His hands had lain numb and unmoving on the bedsheets as she took what she wanted.

“Hey,” Laura says calmly, rubbing his back and pulling him closer. “Hey, calm down. It’s okay. Whatever it is, it’s okay. The kids are safe and so are we. It’s okay.”

Derek chokes on a sob and curls in to hide his face in her lap. Because for the first time he’s realizing that Jennifer may have forced her body to miscarry those babies. And the idea that she threw their lives away before he could even meet them is just….

But she had wanted a werewolf child. That’s what she said before she died. And it is like an instinct like Scott had said earlier. Werewolves can tell when a baby is a wolf in the womb once they’re developed enough. None of the children they had lost had that smell and instinctual pull to them. They had been human, as far as he knew.

“Derek, you’re freaking me out,” Laura says. She’s trying to pull him up so she can hug him, but he’s shaking too hard to be much help.

Now that he’s crying, he can’t seem to stop.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A continuation of the difficult discussion from the last chapter. Derek doesn't outright tell Laura about his suspicion about the miscarriages, but she puts the pieces together and comes to the same conclusion. They also talk more about the spell of complacency that Jennifer placed over Derek. The discussion ends with a rather brutal explanation of how Jennifer came to die, because she was a bitch and I needed to focus on the fact that she died after all the pain she caused. Don't read if graphic violence isn't your thing.

It takes Derek almost an hour to stop crying. Laura eventually stops trying to calm him down, but instead just keeps petting his hair and rubbing his back. It’s the first time he’s really cried since Jennifer. When he’s cried himself out, he lays there, exhausted, head still in Laura’s lap and lets her finish her story.

“Something just felt wrong, you know?” she says quietly.

He nods, because he’d had that moment too, but not until he saw Jennifer with a bloody and squirming Maisy in their kitchen.

“I started thinking about how I didn’t really feel like I knew her well. I didn’t go to your apartment very often. Saw the kids little, and saw you and Jennifer even less. And it was like, I don’t know, like reality just didn’t sit right for some reason. So I drove over one day when I knew you’d be at work and Caleb was at school. And I confronted her. I didn’t know what was wrong, but I knew something was.”

Laura sighs. “I probably shouldn’t have gone in confrontationally. I should’ve just acted like I wanted to have a girl talk or gossip or whatever.” She rolls her eyes, because she’s always been a tomboy, and struggled with the more “girly” interactions throughout high school. “Anyway, I confronted her and we ended up yelling at each other. Next thing I know, she’s throwing a circle of Mountain Ash around me and muttering to herself about ‘plans’ being ruined. I tried to bust out of the circle and she just, like, rolled her eyes and chanted at me and it was like my anger just...fell away. I sat down quietly and just didn’t care about what was happening. Like an out-of-body experience. I was watching it happen, but like nothing connected emotionally.”

That’s probably the most accurate way of putting it, Derek thinks. He knows exactly what Laura means, and he’s pretty sure he had experienced a version of that for the six and a half years he was with Jennifer.

“I listened to her negotiate my sale on the phone. Then she broke the circle, led me downstairs to the car, and drove me to an empty apartment building a few blocks away. She didn’t even grab Maisy from the bedroom. That struck me as so strange at the time, but it wasn’t strange enough I felt I had to say anything. I just accepted it, like it didn’t matter.”

“A spell to keep you complacent,” Derek mumbles.

“Yeah. But during the car ride I guess she decided she was in enough control not to worry about me. Because she told me a little about what she was doing. She told me she needed a werewolf who was from her own bloodline for a spell. Said it was going to be her greatest achievement. She told me I would have to go and she didn’t want to wipe my memories--because what the fuck but apparently she could do that?”

Derek is too tired to even be surprised. He feels hollowed out.

“She told me she was planning to do the spell on Maisy’s birthday and that she knew if she wiped my memories I would just find another reason to disrupt her again before it was time for the spell to be completed. Then she locked me in a circle of ash and undid whatever spell she’d put me under. I tried to get out, but there was no way. She left me there for the hunters to come pick up. They drugged me and took me to Mexico. I tried to escape, tried to send a message, tried everything I could think of but nothing worked. I was broken out only a few days after Maisy’s birthday, but I knew I was too late for that. First chance I got I called you, but your phone was disconnected. So I contacted Cora’s pack, who had actually just realized I wasn’t dead. Cora told me basically that Jennifer was dead and you were taking the kids away, heading for Uncle Peter’s old place. So I tracked your path and found my way here.”

They stay there in silence for a long moment, both thinking Laura’s story over. Then she squeezes his neck and asks him if he’s ready to talk.

He’s not. But she’s his Alpha and she deserves to know. “She did something to me, like what she did to you,” he starts off slowly. “We slept together the first night we met.” Not altogether odd for him at the time, but they’d gone to his apartment. And he never took one night stands to his den. That should’ve been a sign. And he still didn’t really remember where they had met or how. Had they even had a full conversation before she was asking to go back to his place? He didn’t know. “She told me she knew I was a werewolf because she had an affinity for magic and read it in my aura or whatever.”

He takes a breath carefully. Laura starts petting his hair again.

“I introduced her to you as soon as she told me she was pregnant. That was only about a month later. We moved in together. And I think that’s when the...the spell or whatever...was put on me. When Caleb was born she didn’t want to do much with him. I had to get out of bed and bring him to her at night to be fed, but I didn’t even stop to think that was weird. I figured it was a little post partum or something and just did what I had to to make sure he was taken care of. Then she wanted another baby, and I think I tried to argue once but I don’t remember the conversation actually going anywhere. We started trying again after only a few weeks.”

“She needed a wolf cub,” Laura says quietly.

He nods around the lump in his throat. “The miscarriages she had...I’m almost positive they were all going to be human.”

He waits for the realization to click for her to. And he doesn’t have to wait long.

“Shit,” Laura breathes. “Shit...that fucking psychopath.”

“I think there were moments that I realized something was a little off,” Derek whispers, because it's the first time he’s letting himself think about that. “But then it kept getting pushed away and I would forget about it. It was like living in a haze for all those years. The only things I remember clearly are the kids. I remember listening to their heartbeats in her womb. I remember the tiny weight of the babies in my hands the first time I held them. How much I loved them. It’s everything with Jennifer that’s a blur now.”

“How so?”

He shrugs. “I never loved her. I'm not sure I even really liked her that much. I don't think she cared to make me like her. She just made me...complacent. And I felt like I wanted to please her. I let her win every argument. I let her try for more kids every time. I let her convince me not to see you. I let her do anything she wanted and it never struck me as strange.”

“You didn't let her do anything, Derek,” she says. And there’s a bit of a growl behind her words. “She put a spell on you. I know what it was like. I didn't seem to care that we barely saw each other either. I had just as many reasons as you to notice something was wrong but she didn't let us do anything about it. She took away our choice.”

“I still should have done something sooner,” he says quietly.

“You couldn't have,” Laura says.

He would like to accept that, but he’s not sure he can.

“I didn't realize anything was wrong until I came home early with Caleb to celebrate Maisy’s birthday. We walked into the apartment and there was Jennifer. Maisy was bleeding and screaming and Jennifer just shot me this look like I was some annoying fly. That's when everything finally hit home. I realized I had no idea why we got together in the first place.”

He remembers standing there just inside the doorway with Caleb clinging to his pants leg and smelling terrified. He remembers the sneer Jennifer had given him. The way she made a hand motion and the apartment door had slammed shut behind them.

“She tried to make me complacent again, when we interrupted. But it didn't hit me as strong as usual I guess because I was able to kind of force my way through it. It was like trying to swim through mud but I started walking to her. Then she surrounded me with Mountain Ash and I thought that was it. She told me what she told you about needing a werewolf child for some spell. Then she started thanking me for being a good donor for the wolf gene and she turned to finish the spell. I was shoving my weight as hard as I could against the ash so when it gave way I didn't even stop to think.”

“Caleb?”

He nodded. “He let me out. I grabbed Maisy from her arm and she fought back. I barely got Maisy to Caleb before she was on me. I told Caleb to run but he took Maisy and hid behind the couch where he could still see us.

“It wasn't a fair fight. She was going to win easily. I clawed at her a little bit but she kept hitting me with spells that made it feel like my skin was peeling off and making me too dizzy to figure out which way was up.”

He swallows against the memory. “She would've killed me. I was bleeding pretty badly and my blows weren't connecting much. But then everything just kind of stopped. I heard Jennifer start screaming and chanting but nothing connected. It took me a few seconds before I could see clearly. Then there she was hurling spells inside a ring of Mountain Ash.”

“Mountain Ash can’t hold magic users,” Laura says. 

“I know,” Derek agrees. “But it did. She was trying to get out but she couldn't. And it looked like she was fighting it as hard as she could. Her face didn't even look like her own anymore. She was scarred and disfigured. It was like she’d dropped whatever glamour she had over herself. Then she started screaming at Caleb to let her out.”

“Caleb held her in there?”

“Yeah. He looked so angry with his little face peering out from behind the couch. But it didn't look like he was struggling at all. So we all stood there for a long second. Jennifer was throwing spells and Caleb was just watching and I just...I didn't know what to do. But I knew if she got out she would kill us. So I grabbed the knife she had been about to use on Maisy and I threw it. I think she was just as surprised as I was that it connected. I don't know if Caleb helped me with that as well, because she tried to block it but it was like whatever she did just didn't work.”

He takes a deep breath because there’s more still. “She wasn't dying quickly,” he says. He remembers her cursing and lying there in the circle, coughing up blood and bile, limbs stretched out against the Ash around her. “She was promising that she was going to kill us. She tried to get the knife out of her chest but it was like her arm was forced back to the ground every time she reached for it.”

Laura squeezes his arm. “You think Caleb made sure she couldn't get to it and heal herself.”

He shrugs weakly, but knows it's the truth. “If she’d gotten the knife out I think she was powerful enough to do it. But I think he didn't let her. And I couldn't let him even think for a second that he killed his own mother, so I told him not to look, and I figured the fridge was the heaviest thing in the kitchen so I pulled it out from the wall, lined it up, and let it go. It crushed her skull. She died instantly.”

“Shit,” Laura whispers. “I never saw the body. The Callaveri Pack just told me it was bad.”

“It was. There was so much blood I wouldn't be surprised if it leaked through the floor,” he admits. “But I didn't worry about that at the time. I took the kids into their room and started packing as quickly as I could. Someone had to hear the fridge fall and I figured we wouldn't be able to hide the body very long. So we got out of there as quickly as we could.”

He’d had to carry Maisy and almost all of their bags so he couldn't keep Caleb from looking at Jennifer as they left the apartment. He still remembers the look on his son’s face when he saw her body. He will never forget that.

It takes a long time for Derek and Laura to be ready for sleep after that talk. But eventually they wind up in the master bedroom, clinging to each other and just glad to be reunited. Caleb wakes up crying a few hours before dawn. Derek ends up bringing the kids into the bed with him and Laura. He lets Laura lull Maisy back to sleep with a flash of her eyes and some calm grumbling in her chest. Derek holds Caleb and lets him cry into his shirt as long as he needs to.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's kind of like a first date...? Sort of...? And baby Maisy gets a little more werewolfy.

Things are as good as they can be for a few days. Derek and Laura keep working on cleaning the house. Caleb bounces around during the daytime and wakes up crying almost every night. Maisy is thrilled to have her Alpha living with them. She spends a good amount of time trying to impress Laura with her baby growls and tiny golden eyes.

Then one morning Derek’s stretching in the library when he hears the kids start fighting over a crayon. He comes out in time to watch Maisy pop her claws for the first time. Caleb starts crying immediately with blood dripping down the back of his hand. An ash circle surrounds Maisy almost only seconds later, before Derek can react.

“Laura…!” he all but yells. Then he’s lifting Caleb into his arms and hurrying for the downstairs bathroom where he keeps the large first aid kit. He hears Laura rush inside from where she’s been attacking the front garden. He hears her mumble a few curses he hopes Maisy won’t pick up. His toddler’s now bawling crocodile tears just like her brother.

He sets Caleb on the bathroom counter next to the sink and digs out the first aid kit from beneath it. “She didn't mean to cut you,” Derek says calmly, as he rinses Caleb’s hand in the sink, pulling the pain from it without even thinking about it. The cut isn't deep but it's long, stretching across his hand from wrist to index finger.

“She doesn't like me!” Caleb cries. “She doesn't like me like Mommy didn't like me!”

That makes Derek freeze. “Oh pup,” he says softly, and pulls Caleb in tight. “Your sister loves you. She’s never used her claws before. She's too young to control them. She didn't mean to hurt you.”

Laura pokes her head in the bathroom. “Caleb can you break the circle so I can check on her?” Laura asks him. “She’s really scared and I need to make sure she’s okay.”

Derek kisses his son’s forehead. The tears are drying up but his son has this mulish look on his face. “Can Aunt Laura cross the circle like Daddy can?” He ignores the surprised look on Laura’s face (did he forget to tell her about that?) and starts bandaging his son’s hand.

Then Caleb’s scent goes a little sour and he kicks at the shelf beneath him. “Aunt Laura can go inside but I’m not letting Maisy out! She cut me!”

Derek sighs and shoos Laura out. She at least leaves and goes to take care of his other kid. He finishes putting bandaids on Caleb’s hand about the same time that he hears Laura pick up Maisy and muffle the sobs against herself.

Then he wipes down the sink and lifts Caleb up. His kid is still dripping tears but he doesn't smell as angry anymore.

“Pup, you're gonna have to let your sister out,” he says quietly. Caleb’s shoulders droop. “She didn't mean to hurt you. She’s a baby. Baby’s are clumsy and have accidents all the time.”

Caleb leans into his shoulder and mumbles, “She dropped her cereal all over the floor.”

“Exactly. She didn't mean to drop her food this morning. Accidents happen. Especially when you're a baby and still learning how to use all your arms and legs. Maisy didn't know she had claws until just a minute ago. She doesn't know how to use them yet. Okay? So we need to help her learn.”

Caleb sighs heavily and slumps into him. “Do you think she still likes me?”

Derek rubs his back. “She loves you. She’s probably in there crying more about how upset you were than anything at all.”

Caleb doesn't reply, but he needs to check on his baby so Derek carries his son into the living room. He stops short at the sight and almost has to laugh. Laura looks frustrated standing with one foot inside the tiny circle of ash and one foot outside. She’s leaning to keep Maisy in the circle but she doesn't have much room to maneuver.

Derek pats his son on the back. “Okay pup, time to let her out.”

Caleb rolls his eyes and the ash separates and goes under the couch. Under the couch? Really? He sits on that couch all the time. Laura looks like she’s thinking the same thing.

“Caleb you can't keep the ash under the couch,” Derek sighs.

“It’s not in a circle. No one will get caught in it. And Maisy can't reach under there. I made sure most of it’s in the middle of the couch. Her arms are too small to reach it.”

“Caleb…” he says, but by then Maisy’s realized her brother is back and starts reaching for him, almost diving out of Laura’s arms, as she babbles tiny screeches of ‘Sowwy Caeb!’ at him.

Caleb huffs in Derek's arms and squirms to be put down. Then he marches up to Maisy and Laura kneels down so they can be closer to level. “Are you gonna hurt me again?” he demands of his sister.

Maisy’s reaching for him with bare hands, no claws. “Sowwy, Caeb! Sowwy!”

Derek sees the moment Caleb breaks and dives in for a hug. So that, at least, is that. But now he’s got two issues: the Mountain Ash under the comfy couch and a toddler who may pop her claws in public should he ever dare to take his children outside again after this. Flashing eyes are a little easier to play off as a trick of the light. Claws? Not so much.

Three hours later, after being unable to convince Caleb in the slightest to get rid of the Mountain Ash, Laura kicks Derek out of the house and tells him to take a break. She promises to watch the kids and howl for him if they need anything.

\----------

Derek ends up wandering aimlessly through town. He stops in a store to buy a new phone. Then he stops at the drug store for more band aids because why not. Then he’s just walking through town unsure of what to do with his unexpected freedom.

Then he realizes he’s not far from Stiles’s shop so he decides he might as well drop by.

The shop feels just as heavily covered in magic as it had the last time he was there, but it feels almost familiar now. The sign on the door says it’s open, so Derek makes his way inside.

Stiles is standing by a shelf near the back of the store stacking little jars of something out for display. “Welcome to Skin, Scales, And Fur,” he calls over his shoulder. “Are you looking for anything in particular or just checking us out for the first time?”

Then he turns and drops the box he’d been pulling his product out of. He winces and flails a little, almost knocking over the small display he had been setting up.

“Sorry,” Derek says but he’s not quite sure what for. “I just…Laura kicked me out of the house for a bit. Said I needed a break from kid duty.”

Stiles laughs and starts to clean up the mess he’s made. “That was nice of her,” he says.

Derek shrugs, feeling a little awkward about being in here alone with Stiles. Usually he has the kids to distract him from noticing Derek watching him out of the corner of his eye.

Then Stiles shakes his head with a grin. “You miss them already, don't you?”

Derek sighs. “It’s only been thirty minutes. I shouldn't miss their scents already. But I haven't been more than a few feet away from them in almost a month.”

“Definitely time for a break then,” Stiles says. “How long do you need to stay away?”

He rolls his eyes. “She said I shouldn't come back for at least two hours unless I wanted her to kick me out again.”

“Do you drink coffee?”

“Everyone drinks coffee,” he says.

“Okay Mr. Sassypants. Do you want coffee right now? I have a kitchen right upstairs and I make a mean cup of joe.”

“That sounds nice,” Derek says honestly. He needs a distraction. And coffee with Stiles sounds like a distraction all right.

“Good. Flip the sign on the door and I’ll hit the lights.”

Stiles leads him through the spelled doorway leading into the open room in the back. Then he leads the way up the spiral staircase and Derek does his best not to stare at his butt as he follows the emissary up to the apartment space above.

Stiles unlocks the door with a wave of his hand and lets him in. “Sorry it’s a bit of a mess. I wasn't expecting company.”

“It’s fine.”

“Kitchen’s this way.”

Derek looks around the space as they head for the kitchen area. It's an open floor plan with the kitchen and dining area leading into the living room and a standing screen that separates the living area from the bedroom area. It’s small and there is clutter and clothing lying around at random, but there are large windows letting in natural light. There’s also only a light buzz of magic in the apartment, less than Derek even felt from across the street outside.

He sits down at the kitchen table and watches as Stiles makes the coffee. The apartment feels calm. Soothing even. The sounds of the outside world are a little dampened.

“Sorry if my space feels a little weird,” Stiles says after a while as he’s pouring coffee into two mugs. “I added just a little bit of soundproofing and also some wards to make it feel quiet and relaxing. Things were not always good with the Pack and the territory here. I needed somewhere to relax and feel safe and it just kind of snowballed and I've never bothered to undo it.”

Derek shakes his head because it doesn't bother him surprisingly. “It feels nice in here. Like I can breathe without worrying about anything.” It’s a pinch too honest but he can't take it back now. 

“Good,” Stiles says, handing over the coffee and taking a seat across from him. “Scott says it’s a little like being high after a while so if you start feeling weird we’re leaving. There’s a decent coffee shop down the block it’s just cheaper to drink my own.”

Derek takes a sip and it’s at least very good coffee.

“Cream and sugar are on the counter,” Stiles says with a wave of his hand. “Use at will.”

Derek gets up to add just a little sugar to his cup, then sits back down and wonders what to talk about. Fortunately Stiles takes care of that for him.

“Everything okay?” he asks. “Or did Laura kick you out because something happened and you needed a while to think?”

Derek sighs and takes a sip before answering. “Maisy popped her claws today and accidentally scratched Caleb. Next thing I know I've got two crying kids. Then Caleb surrounded her in Mountain Ash that he’s apparently hidden away under our couch and I had a little moment there where I thought he might not let her out.”

Stiles winces. “I could see that being unsettling. He was upset then?”

“Furious,” Derek agrees. “He thought she hated him and he didn't want to let her out so she couldn't hurt him again.”

“What did you do?”

“Bandaged his hand and tried to convince him that babies do things by accident all the time. It took some work but eventually he let her out. Now the ash is under my couch again and I'm pretty sure Maisy will be popping claws out whenever she gets upset. She's too young to control it well yet. I think that’s why cubs don't usually start shifting until they're older. The control just isn't possible yet.”

“That doesn't sound fun to deal with,” Stiles sympathizes. “I remember when Scott was struggling to control it, right after he got bitten, but at least I could reason with him some.”

Derek hasn't spent much time lately around wolves who have recently been bitten, but he remembers a little of the craziness when Uncle David’s wife had taken the Bite. He’d only been about twelve and was mostly kept out of the way, but he remembers her struggle to get used to it.

Maisy’s only a baby though. She at least won't have a fully functioning shift just yet. “Maisy’s claws are probably almost paper thin,” he admits. “I didn't really see them very well before they went away. But cubs usually start out with fairly soft claws that kinda bend under pressure unlike a full grown wolf’s claws. She just managed to scrape just right to make Caleb bleed.”

“My poor buddy,” Stiles says with a soft frown. “It wasn't a bad cut though?”

“Not deep at all, just a long scratch.”

“Good. I'm glad it wasn't bad. Do you want me to confiscate his Mountain Ash for you? I can swing by the house when you're ready to go back.”

Derek considers that for a long moment, but he’s honestly not sure Caleb would react well to not having ash in the house. It was his son’s only way of protecting himself if anything happened. And he was good enough with it not to endanger anyone in the family. Probably.

“I don't think so,” Derek says at last. “I think it makes him feel safe to know it's there. I didn't even realize he had some under the couch until today. I thought it was still in the diaper bag.”

“You keep Mountain Ash in your baby werewolf’s diaper bag?” Stiles sounded shocked.

“It’s double bagged and only there for emergencies. I would know if it leaked in her things.”

“Like you knew it was under your couch?” Stiles shoots back, then slaps a hand over his mouth. “Sorry! You're the parent. You know what you're doing. I just, I wouldn't have thought a werewolf would feel comfortable with ash so close.”

“It’s fine, really,” Derek assures him. “With Caleb around, ash is a little...well, he handles it so easily that I don't really worry about him using it exactly. He can do things I would have easily sworn are impossible if I hadn't seen him do it.”

“You mean with the making it float and all?” Stiles asks.

He hesitates because Laura’s the only other one who knows now. But maybe Stiles won't be so surprised. Maybe it's a thing some people can do?

“He um, Caleb told me that day that Laura found us that I will always be able to cross his circles.”

Stiles looks dumbfounded. “And you can?”

“Yeah. I walked through like there was nothing there.”

“I've never heard of someone doing that,” Stiles says slowly. “You're sure he didn't just make a tiny space in the circle?”

Derek figures he might as well admit the rest. “He also trapped Jennifer in a circle the day she died. It even contained her magic. He was exhausted afterwards for almost two whole days, but he didn't let anything she threw get out of the circle.”

“And you're sure it was just Mountain Ash?” Stiles asks. “Nothing else mixed in?”

“Pretty sure, yeah.”

Stiles sits back in his seat and sips at his coffee. He looks like he’s thinking through that. It's a long moment before he comes back to the present moment. “I've never heard of ash holding a magic user before, much less a Druid. They're connected to the earth in a way most magic users aren't. Ash should've been something simple for her to manipulate, like dirt.”

“Caleb can let Laura and I cross his circles and it doesn't look like it takes any effort. Holding Jennifer took a lot of effort I think, but he did it any hints of it failing or fracturing.”

Stiles is frowning now, but more like he’s thinking through a puzzle than like he’s upset. He smells kind of...intrigued? “I know I said I wouldn't play with ash around him without your permission, but I would be really interested to talk to him about this. I’ve never heard of anyone manipulating Mountain Ash like that before. The implications of it alone are...I don't even know what to say.”

Derek considers it for a moment, but he already knows what he’s going to say. “I’m okay with that, I think. It would be kind of good to let him talk to somebody about it. He uh, he has nightmares most nights about Jennifer and I'm not sure how much of it is about her and how much is about the fact that he held her in a circle so I could kill her.”

Stiles mumbles a few choice curse words. “Can I--I mean--I'd like to talk with him, if that’s okay. My mom died when I was eight. She had a form of dementia that caused paranoia and I spent a long time feeling like I was the reason she got sick. I think I might get just a little of where he may be coming from.”

“Actually that would be really nice,” Derek says quietly. “I'm sorry about your mom.”

Stiles nods his thanks. “I went to therapy for a while as a kid, and it was rough, but I think it helped a little. If you want I can reach out to some contacts and see if there are any family therapists ‘in the know’ about the more supernatural side of life?”

“That...would actually probably be good,” Derek says even though the thought of his son needing professional help to be okay with Jennifer’s ghost hanging over them is more than a little heartbreaking. “I'm not too sure what to say to him most times he wakes up from a nightmare. I usually just hold him until he calms down and falls back asleep.”

“I'll call around as soon as I can,” Stiles promises.

“Thank you. I know we’re not Pack but--”

“But you could be,” Stiles interrupts. “Eventually. If you wanted.”

Derek swallows. “I don't know that we’ll be allowed to stay with Laura back. Most Packs won't take in a whole pack with an Alpha.”

“We’re not most packs, Derek,” he says calmly. “Scott and I have already talked about it with the Pack. If you guys want to stay after the two months are up, we’re not going to kick you out. Besides, Scott’s been wondering if your sister would start running the perimeter of the territory with us sometime because Allison’s about ready to pop out their kid and he’s gonna be massively distracted as soon as there’s a baby in his house. He’s been wondering if Laura would work with the Pack to keep an eye on things while he’s semi-out of commission.”

It sounds too good to be true. Laura’s only been in the territory for less than a week. Surely the Pack can't be this welcoming? It’s unheard of.

“I think Laura would be interested in that,” Derek says eventually, because he can't turn it down when something like that is offered.

“Good,” Stiles says with a grin. “We’ll talk more about it at the Pack meeting tomorrow. Bring your sister so the rest of the Pack can formally meet her.”

“I’ll do that.”

It feels like an end to their conversation, so Derek stands to put his empty coffee mug in the sink. But something occurs to him and he doesn't even know why he says it really except that he’s tired of holding his six-year old son as he cries every night.

“Stiles...I know magic users can, well, for lack of better words manipulate memories.”

He practically feels Stiles’s heart speed up, but he’s grateful the emissary doesn't say anything.

“Is there a way to remove or weaken a memory?”

Stiles looks away from him, out the window. And his scent does something bad. “In my honest opinion, Derek, altering someone’s brain is never worth it in the end. Doesn't matter if you think it would help them to forget. It’s not right.” He sighs deeply, but his posture relaxes a little when he turns to face him again. “Our experiences shape us into the people we are. And even trauma can be something used for gain down the road somewhere. It's just usually in surprising ways. If you're asking me to be involved in something like that I’m afraid I'll have to say ‘no thanks.’ I've had my brain fucked with before, and I'm not going to help do that to someone else.”

“No, of course,” Derek says softly. “I wasn't thinking. I just…”

“Were you asking for yourself or for Caleb?” Stiles asks, because he’s not stupid.

“For Caleb,” he admits. “I don't--” deserve to forget “--I don't know how to help him. And it’s hard knowing he’s carrying that with him.”

Stiles joins him silently at the sink and starts washing the mugs. Derek dries and lets the silence sit. When they're done, Stiles puts a hand on his arm. “Therapy,” he says quietly. “Try that for Caleb first. I know you're not the type to blab about your deepest secrets to a stranger but Caleb talks. It might be good for him.”

Derek nods a little. He’s willing to try it.

“And maybe just...let him know you're willing to listen if he needs to talk?” Stiles suggests. “My dad is the best dad in the world but he didn't really know how to be there for me when my mom died. It was rough. There were a lot of days I would've been so glad just to feel like I was allowed to talk to him about her. Maybe that’s what Caleb needs.”

“I’ll try,” Derek says. It's gonna hurt and he almost doesn't want to hear what his son is feeling because then he’s going to feel like he has to fix it--and he knows he can't. But maybe it would be worth it for Caleb to be able to talk.

Stiles squeezes his arm and the moment passes. “What do you say we watch something dumb on TV and just schmooze until you can see your kids again?”

Honestly, that sounds amazing.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek has a talk with Caleb about his nightmares.

Stiles gets Derek to make it through four episodes of Brooklyn 9-9 (because the poor soul hasn't ever watched it!) before he catches Derek eyeing the clock and lets him head back home to see his kids and his sister. Derek looks lighter than he was when he entered the shop. His shoulders were actually unclenched and he had actually managed to let go of his worries long enough to laugh at the TV with Stiles.

And not those little polite chuckles, but like ‘belt-busting full guffaws, hiding his cute little bunny teeth in the palm of his hands as he curled into himself’ kind of laughs.

He was gorgeous and Stiles felt a little like I was dying inside just remembering it.

He made sure that Derek knew to come over and watch more B99 with him the next time he got kicked out of his own home. And Derek actually agreed--like seemed to mean it. The sun was shining down on him and the world was smiling at Stiles.

So he could be forgiven a little bit for forgetting that he’s promised his dad he would come over for dinner--just the two of them. As it was he remembered only fifteen minutes too late and managed to rush over before his dad got upset. (But it meant he didn't have time to grab any healthy snacks at the grocery mart on the way, damnit.)

His dad’s eyes narrowed when he opened the front door. “No healthy foods to poison me with? And you're late. Are you flushed from racing over here or blushing because you've been flirting?”

“Oh my god, Dad…!”

His dad blocked the doorway with a well-placed foot and a little crossed-arm leaning. When Stiles doesn't answer, he raises an eyebrow. “You wouldn't have happened to be distracted by a certain gentleman would you? Cautious and sort of brooding fellow? Little sharp around the edges?”

“Ugh, shut up. Like you have room to talk. I know you've been taking Melissa cheesecake slices once a week.”

His dad sputters, but it gave Stiles the in he needed to push his way into the house. At least they could do this out of range of the town’s most notorious gossip, Maybelle Smith. She leaves the window in her living room open on purpose. She knows what she’s doing.

Dinner turns out to be turkey burgers and potato salad. No veggies in sight--probably to spite him. Stiles rolls his eyes but allows it this once.

“So why did you see Derek?” his dad asks when they are finally seated and have full plates in front of them.

Stiles rolls his eyes, because how does his dad know he saw Derek anyway? “Why are you bringing Melissa cheesecake at work?”

His dad looks him straight in the eye and says, “I’m softening her up before I ask her out to that fancy new restaurant in town.” Then he stares him down because he knows he’s won.

“Damnit!” Stiles swears. “Fine, old man. I yield! Laura kicked Derek out of the house today. I gather that he was a little stressed out and she decided he needed a break. He came by the shop and we hung out for a while.”

“‘Hung out’…” his dad repeats, like it's some dirty euphemism.

“We drank some coffee and watched a sitcom. What do you want from me?”

“Everything was G rated?” his dad asks, but sort of looks like he doesn't really want to know the answer to that.

Stiles face plants on the table. “Why are you like this?” he whines. “Should I be asking you if you're keeping everything G rated?”

“Of course I am, son. Melissa is a classy lady and she deserves to be treated well.” He almost sounds affronted that Stiles would even ask. Such double standards!

“Yeah well, Derek’s had a sucky past,” Stiles mumbles into the table. “I'm not sure he’s even ready for a relationship with everything that's happened to him recently.”

He hears his dad clear his throat. “Yeah...well...you could be good for him I think. You would treat him right.”

Stiles can't help but lift his head, because his dad is the best. “Yeah...I would. I wanna just wrap him up in blankets and feed him Grandma’s spiced cookies.”

“I think he’d like that,” his dad says with a little smile. “Kid seems like he deserves a little doting.”

It’s not until Stiles is trying to swallow his next bite that his dad adds, “And I'll be glad to watch the kids if you two ever need some privacy to do the do or whatever.”

It's a long moment of choking and coughing before Stiles can breathe again. But when he can he glares at his dad. “You are the worst!”

And to make his dad as upset as he is feeling, he adds, “And anyway sorry but Maisy’s on a bit of a time-out right now because she decided to be able to pop her claws today! So no cuddles for cushy and fragile human you!”

His dad just rolls his eyes like that won't stop him at all.

\----------

“You smell,” is the first thing Laura says to him when he gets home. She’s sitting on the couch with a picture book in hand and the kids curled up against her.

Derek lifts Caleb up and slides into his spot against Laura’s arm before tucking his son into his lap so he can soak up the scent of his whole family happy and calm.

Laura pokes him in the leg. “You smell like that m-a-g-i-c s-h-o-p,” she complains, but has enough sense to at least to spell it.

“Like what?” his son asks.

Derek runs a hand up and down his kid’s back and tucks his face into Laura’s neck. “Nothing, pup. Aunt Laura’s just trying to bug me.”

“Don't make him grumpy,” Caleb warns her.

“Yeah, Laura.”

She pinches his leg with werewolf strength for his efforts. But Caleb complains when he jumps.

“Finish the book! Aunt Laura we’re almost done with it!”

She huffs but does as the kid demands. Derek gets approximately five minutes to enjoy the peace and quiet. Then Laura announces that it’s time for dinner and tells Caleb to hunt down a box of mac and cheese in the pantry.

His kid’s off like a shot, leaving Derek to the whims of his oh so evil sister.

“You smell like the emissary,” she accuses him, as soon as the nosy little ears are safely out of range.

“He offered me some coffee.”

“You smell way too much like him for that to have been all of it. Do you really trust this guy? I mean he’s an emissary--a magic user. Haven't we had enough of that lately?”

Derek flinches.

“Shit,” she mumbles, and grabs for him when he moves to get up. He tries to evade, but she practically tosses Maisy at his chest then sits on him to keep him down. He growls but she doesn't give. “I didn't mean that,” she apologizes. “Jennifer wasn't your fault. She took us all for a ride and I don't think we could have stopped her sooner.”

Derek hears the slight trip in her heartbeat though, so he knows she doesn't quite believe that last part.

“Da, da, da.” Maisy’s whining and nosing at his neck.

He kisses her soft little head and tries to calm down.

“Derek…” his sister says, “don't be a grumpy butthead.”

“Buh heh,” Maisy repeats before drooling on him.

He glares pointedly at Laura.

“She’ll forget it before she can even pronounce it right.”

“That's not exactly how babies work,” Derek argues. “If my kids develop potty mouths I know who I'm blaming.”

She rolls her eyes, but doesn't let herself get sidetracked. “What is it with this emissary guy? Caleb talks about him all the time and you get this look in your eye like he’s a tasty snack you'd like to eat.”

“That's gross, Laura.”

“Doesn't make it untrue.”

He groans. “Look he’s just...nice...ok? He’s great with Caleb and I don't think he really cares about power or whatever Jennifer was obsessed with because he only ever really talks about doing magic for the Pack’s sake or with the products he’s selling. We talked for a while today and he basically told me he’s had his mind messed with before and that he would never do that to someone else.”

Laura sighs, and he can't read her expression. “And you believed him.”

“I don't have any reason not to.”

“You have too much faith in people,” Laura tells him, her scent dipping towards sadness.

“We have to trust someone somewhere along the line,” he returns. “Why not this pack?”

“So you don't think you would move to be with Cora and her pack?” she asks.

“It never felt right.” He admits it because he knows she felt the same way when they visited.

“And this place does?” She seems skeptical.

He shrugs. “It's probably too early to say, but...yeah maybe it does.”

There’s a crash in the kitchen. So he rolls his eyes and hands Maisy off to Laura so he can go see what his son broke now.

Laura lets the conversation drop, for now.

\----------

When they're lying in the master bedroom later that night, Laura waits for him to turn off the light and settle under the covers before she pokes him in the ribs.

“You like him,” she whispers, “don't you?”

Derek rolls his eyes, making sure to flash them so she can't miss it. He doesn't have to ask who she’s talking about. “Shut up.”

“You would've just told me you didn't if you didn't like him. Why do you like him? He smells like a taser.”

“He smells like electricity, like a thunderstorm.”

“Why do you have to say it like that's romantic?”

He growls at her.

She shoves him. “Is this just a crush because he’s cute or do you like him like him?”

“What do you want me to say?” Derek grumbles. “He’s nice. His dad is nice. They like the kids and help me out when I need something.”

He sees her eyes narrow in the darkness as she looks at him. “You didn't need something today but you still came home smelling like you rolled in his laundry.”

“Oh my god, Laura. He could probably tell I was so tense my whole body was aching when I walked into the shop. He gave me coffee and talked to me until I could unwind a little bit, then let me watch a stupidly light hearted TV show until I could remember how to breathe. Stiles is just nice--okay?”

“Ugh! You sound smitten!” she whisper-shouted in outrage.

So he shoved her off the bed. He took delight in the sounds she made when she hit the hardwood floor.

\----------

Laura doesn't let him get to sleep quickly that night--probably in retaliation. She keeps “accidentally” bumping him when she rolls around to get comfy. He doesn't bother to call her on it, feigning sleep instead so at least they don't have to argue about Stiles again.

Caleb wakes up whining not long after midnight. Derek is still awake because of Laura, so he just rolls out of bed and goes to retrieve his son before Maisy wakes up. He goes to the living room, (with only a brief hesitation) before he lays down on the couch covering the Mountain Ash and plops Caleb on his chest.

Caleb is shaking against him, and whining, but he isn't outright sobbing, so that is good maybe.

“Bad dream?” he asks quietly, starting to rub Caleb’s back.

His kid nods pitifully against his chest.

“Do you wanna tell me about it?”

Caleb shrugs weakly, then burrows his face into Derek’s shirt, where a wet patch promptly breaks out.

“You know, I have bad dreams sometimes too,” he admits quietly to his kid.

“About Mommy?” Caleb whispers.

Derek kisses his forehead. “Yeah, pup. Sometimes I do.”

“What do you dream?”

He sighs but he doesn't want to lie. “I dream we didn't get home in time to help Maisy. Or that something bad happened to both of you kids when I wasn't home.”

Caleb sniffs into his shirt.

Derek continues rubbing his back. He hopes he didn't just give the little guy more fodder for nightmares.

“I dream about her getting me sometimes,” Caleb says eventually. “And about the Funny Dirt not working, or I can't hold it because she’s too strong and I'm only little.”

“Is that what you dreamed about tonight, pup?”

Caleb grabs a fist of his shirt and shudders against him. “I...the circle broke. And she was angry. Really angry. She trapped me and I couldn't feel the Dirt at all so I couldn't break the circle and she got you.”

“I’m here, pup,” Derek assures him. “I'm not going anywhere.”

“I dreamed she made you go away. You disappeared. And I couldn't stop it because I couldn't feel the Dirt.”

Caleb’s shaking again, and it feels like a step in the wrong direction. Derek sighs quietly.

“Can you feel the Funny Dirt under the couch?”

Caleb nods slowly.

“So you know it was just a dream. You can feel Funny Dirt when you're near it, and I don't think that could ever change.”

“Mommy can't ever come back, can she?” Caleb whispers, like he's afraid to ask it too loudly.

“No she can’t,” Derek promises. “She won't ever hurt us again.”

“Why didn't she like us, Daddy? She wanted to hurt Maisy and she never wanted me around. She said mean stuff to you.”

Derek’s honestly scared to wonder whether Caleb means the curses she's spouted when they fought or whether she had been verbally abusive regularly and he couldn't remember it. He didn't want to ask.

“I don't know why she was like that,” Derek says quietly. “She made me think she was nicer for a long time.”

“But she wasn't nice,” Caleb argued. “She was only nice to Maisy and only sometimes.”

Derek frowns a little. “What do you mean?”

“Dad!” his son whines. “She called you bad names when you weren't in the room but you have wolf ears. That's mean! And she didn't like to read to me or play with me even though she sometimes pretended when you were home. She didn't know my favorite cookies are raisin and she let Maisy cry in her crib all the time like she didn't hear her. She didn't like us!”

“Oh baby,” Derek sighs. He hears Laura mutter a few choice curse words from the bedroom, but he’s grateful she doesn't interrupt them. “Baby, I didn't know about any of that,” he tells his son.

“Why not?” Caleb demands, sitting up to look at him. “She never wanted us. Why didn't you notice? Sometimes I thought you did because you would frown like you were going to argue with her, but then it was like you didn't care!”

His son’s too young for this, but can't let his kid go on believing that. “Pup, your mommy had magic, you know that, right?”

Caleb nods. “She couldn't do what I can with the Funny Dirt though. She had to talk to make magic.”

“Yes, she did. She used spells and potions and she was strong and good at what she was used to doing. Like you're strong with the Funny Dirt. But pup, her magic was sneakier than yours.”

“What do you mean?” His little brow was furrowed in confusion.

“I mean she could do magic in a way people didn't notice. She did something to me...and to Aunt Laura. She made us think she wasn't a bad person. She made me forget things, and made me feel like I couldn't argue with her.”

Caleb looks confused, but wary like he might believe Derek if he can be convinced. “How did she do that?”

“Magic,” Derek says simply. “She made me think different things that I would never have usually thought and changed what I was feeling so I wouldn't know to be upset with her.”

“So you didn't know she never liked me?” Caleb asks with a little slump to his shoulders.

“If I had known, I would have taken you away as quickly as I could,” Derek says, and pulls his kid back down into a hug. “I would have stopped her from ever hurting you or Maisy. I just didn't know anything was wrong. She didn't let me know it.”

“She was so mean,” Caleb mumbles against his chest.

“Yes, she was,” Derek agrees. “But she’s gone now and we’re going to be much happier now without her. Your Aunt Laura and I both love you kids very much. We’re going to protect you and take care of you.”

They lay there for a while in silence as Caleb settles back down. His heartbeat slows and his breathing gets even until he falls back asleep. Derek doesn't take him back to his bedroom and doesn't bother getting up to even take him back to the master bedroom. He lays there on the couch for hours listening to his family breathe and reveling in the calm scent of his son at rest.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm SORRY!!!!! The end of this chapter has that super pushy Laura...I tried, guys...I tried...! But Laura was *pissed* at the idea of another magic user coming for her family, and she let both me and Stiles know it. T_T

Derek is exhausted in the morning when Maisy wakes up the house to demand breakfast. He probably slept a total of three hours throughout the night, and his limbs ache a little bit to let him know he should've slept more. But Caleb sits up with a start and immediately starts giggling.

Derek rolls his eyes, but he’s smiling tiredly when he asks his kid what’s so funny.

“The Funny Dirt under the couch, Daddy! I felt it as soon as I woke up and I knew I was safe! So I tried to focus on it and it wiggled like it was happy!”

Derek pats his kid’s leg even though the knee is digging into his ribs. “I'm glad you're happy. Let’s go get Maisy because you're Aunt Laura just told me in a very grumpy voice that it’s my turn to feed us.”

Caleb jumps off Derek (who winces at the forty-eight pound child using his lap as a springboard) and takes off for the kids’ room. Derek takes a little longer to get moving. But when he gets there Caleb is standing with his face mashed against one of the the mesh walls making up Maisy’s playpen already talking to her a mile a minute about what she wants for breakfast and what they should do after they eat.

Derek lifts his baby girl out of her nightly baby-prison (that she only ever hates when it's time for breakfast,) and makes for the kitchen.

“She wants pancakes, Daddy,” Caleb tells him when they get into the kitchen. He pushes a chair up against the island so he can climb up to help cook. Maisy gets dumped in the high chair and starts babbling about “pa ake” and “uice.”

“Oh she does, huh?” Derek asks, because pancakes are Caleb’s favorite breakfast food and Maisy’s just excited to eat squishy foods she can mash her fingers in.

“And juice,” Caleb adds. “Can I pour it?”

Derek’s too tired to argue, though he knows it will most likely end in a mess somehow. “Go for it, pup, just go slowly.”

He keeps an ear and an eye on his kids as he starts the pancakes. He’s just glad to see Caleb chattering happily with Maisy this morning. After everything the night before, he was afraid his kid might be more willing to show his upset emotions in the daylight. But maybe Caleb really was this happy during the day. Maybe he only really crashed down when everything was quiet and still at nighttime, leaving him time to think about the bad things.

Maybe he was like his daddy in that way.

Caleb only spills a little juice, and he lets Derek put the sippy lid on the cup because his last two attempts at doing that himself had been minor disasters. Then Caleb happily delivers the cup of juice to his sister and starts trying to get her to practice saying his name.

“Caleb,” he says, and pokes at her foot. “Ca-leb.”

“Caeb,” she coos back at him.

“Caaaaa-lebbbbbb.”

“Caeb.”

Caleb unfortunately gets bored rather quickly and pushes a chair up beside the stove to watch Derek. He knows not to get too close, because they've talked about this many times.

“Can I put some Funny Dirt under my bed?”

Derek almost drops the spatula and does drop the pancake he was trying to flip. He frowns.

“The pancake’s on the floor,” Caleb tells him, bubbling with laughter.

“I can see that, pup.”

“Do you think the bugs want breakfast?”

“I think I'll clean it up before they get to it,” Derek says with a sigh. He’s already grabbing a paper towel to scoop the burning hot and slightly gooey mess off the floor and toss it in the trash. Then he shakes his hand quickly until the pain recedes.

When he's back at the stove and ready to try again, he nudges his son with an elbow. “What was that about the Funny Dirt?”

Caleb shrugs casually but his heartbeat picks up like he’s nervous. “I just wanna put a little bit under my bed. So when I wake up I know it’s okay and I don't have to be scared.”

Derek shoves the pan to a cool burner, wipes his hands on the towel at his waist and pulls Caleb into a hug.

“I won't let Maisy touch it, I promise!”

Derek sighs. “I tell you what, pup. Give me a little time to figure out if we can make it so Maisy can't get to it, and if we can, then I'll let you put the Funny Dirt under your bed.”

Caleb cheers and squeezes him tight. “Can I sleep on the couch until then? Please? I'll be quiet and I'll sleep better so you don't have to wake up. Please? Can I?”

Derek rolls his eyes, because he has no good argument. “We’ll see,” he says. But he knows he’s going to make something work before the day is over.

When the pancakes are all finished and stacked on a few plates, with nothing to do but eat, Laura finally comes trudging into the kitchen, scowling against the bright sunlight in the room.

She plops down in the seat next to Derek and starts devouring her stack of pancakes.

“Aunt Laura how can I keep Maisy away from my bed?” Caleb asks her. “He said I could keep some Funny Dirt under there so I wake up better.”

Laura raises an eyebrow in his direction and he just shrugs.

“Pushover,” she says quietly, so Caleb won't hear it. Then she turns to his kid and pastes on a smile. “We’ll have to think on that, pup.”

“Daddy says he's gonna figure it out,” Caleb announces without a single worry.

So yeah, now he has to figure it out or risk disappointing his kid. He’s just got to make sure he doesn't get his other kid poisoned. And he just wants to go back to bed. No problem.

\----------

In the end, Derek breaks his new cell phone out of its box and dials the number taped to his fridge.

“Hello?”

“Hey Scott,” Derek says. “It’s Derek. I finally got a phone yesterday. You can call me at this number if you need me.”

“Oh hey, awesome! Good for you! Rejoining civilization.”

“Yeah…” Derek says awkwardly. “Um, listen, I was wondering if I could get Stiles’s number from you. I've got a question about Mountain Ash for him.”

“Is there something wrong at the house? Are the kids okay?”

“The kids are fine. Caleb just...it’s a long story, but he wants to do something and I'm trying to figure out if it will be safe with Maisy in the house.”

There's an awkward moment where Derek thinks Scott might ask for specifics and Derek really doesn't want to explain everything. He's too tired for this. He should've waited for the Pack meeting to talk to Stiles. But the kids always fall asleep right away on the drive back and he really wants Caleb to be able to sleep comfortably in his own bed tonight.

“Of course,” Scott says though. And he recites Stiles’s number like it's no big deal. “But if something goes wrong or you need us, don't hesitate. Someone can be over in no time if you need us.”

He sounds sincere.

“Thank you,” Derek says honestly. “I really appreciate that.”

“No problem.”

Derek ends the conversation quickly and dials the number he’d been given, hoping he’s not bothering Stiles while he’s busy.

Stiles answers on the third ring. “Hello?”

“Hey, Stiles,” Derek says, suddenly feeling stupid for calling. He probably should've figured this out on his own. “It’s uh, Derek...Hale.”

“Hey man! Are you finally using that phone you bought yesterday?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“Awesome. Glad you called. Is there something you needed or is this just a social call to let me know I can now flood your phone with text messages about the stupid things people come into the store to find?”

Derek rolls his eyes, but at least Stiles doesn't apparently feel awkward by being called on the phone even though they've only ever spoken in person. “I actually had a question for you, if that’s okay.”

“Of course. Hit me with it.”

He wishes he could see Stiles’s face. He couldn't tell if he sounded disappointed by the fact that Derek wasn't calling just to chat. “Well, Caleb and I had a long talk last night…”

“Hey that's great,” Stiles says, voice going softer like he knows it was a difficult talk. “Was he willing to tell you what he’s been dreaming about?”

“Yeah…” He almost wants to tell Stiles about what Caleb said but over the phone just feels so...impersonal. Separated. He doesn't feel up to it. So he just says, “It was rough, but it was good I think.”

“I'm sure it was. Has he been any better today?”

Derek wants to lay his head down so badly for just a second there. “He usually seems great during the day actually. He doesn't seem better than usual, but he’s also not worse, so….”

“So he’s okay,” Stiles says calmly. “It’ll take time but he’ll be all right.”

“I hope so,” he says quietly. He’s a little desperate for that, actually.

“So what’s this big question you have for me?” Stiles asks him. “Is something wrong with Caleb?”

“No, he’s as good as he can be for the moment I guess, just...he asked me if he could put some Mountain Ash under his bed. Apparently some of what he’s dreaming about is not being able to control the Ash, and he thinks he would calm down easier from bad dreams if he could wake up and feel some nearby.”

“Okay,” Stiles says slowly, “so where do I come into play? Are you asking me to work with him?”

“No, he uh, well I haven't bothered him too much about the Ash under the couch because I can't figure out any way Maisy would get to it under there. But the kids share a room and she crawls all over the place if you let her loose. I want Caleb to feel safe, but I can't just let him leave that out where she can get to it. Honestly I'm still trying to get used to the fact that he’s keeping it out of a container in our living room because I've been poisoned enough times by Wolfsbane to be wary, myself.”

“So you need a way to let him have it nearby while he’s sleeping but not where Maisy can get to it,” Stiles muses.

“Exactly.”

Stiles makes a little tapping sound on the other side of the phone, thinking that through. “My gut reaction is to go to Home Depot and buy something to fence off the area underneath his bed, but when she starts getting a little stronger I don't know if that would do much good. Does she have werewolf strength yet?”

“Not really,” Derek says, “but it probably won't be long since she’s already showing signs of shifting.”

“Any more claw incidents since yesterday?”

“Thankfully no, not yet, but we’re gonna have to keep a close eye on her.”

There's a moment of silence as Stiles continues to think this problem over. Then he blows out a deep breath and says, “Would you mind if I came over? Maybe if I could see the room it might give me some ideas.”

“Um, yeah, that'd be great actually. But we have the Pack meeting tonight.”

“Yeah I meant I could come over now,” Stiles says. “I mean, if that's okay. I don't want to bother you guys. I can mute my scent if it’ll be annoying having me in your home or anything.”

“You don't need to do that,” Derek tells him quickly. “Really, don't mess with your scent. Just, yeah, you can come over now if you want. We’re just messing around the house today. No plans or anything--until tonight, that is.”

“Okay, I’ll be over in half an half an hour then. Yeah?”

“Great.”

“Okay. See you in a bit.”

“Yeah. Okay.”

Stiles hangs up and Derek stands there for almost a full minute before he can set his phone down. He has thirty minutes and the house is a disaster between the kids’ toys and the slow cleaning out of their family’s things. He’s suddenly feeling a little less tired.

Laura pokes her head in the kitchen with a judgmental look on her face. “Did you really just invite him over?”

“Shut up,” he growls. But he knows it won't work.

“But now the house is gonna smell like it’s been tasered,” she whines.

“Oh my god, just help me clean up a little then get out of the house when he shows up for all I care.”

\----------

When Stiles gets to the Hale house he realizes that it's the first time he will have ever been inside when fully invited to enter. He’d been inside a week ago when Laura showed up, and though he’ll never admit it happily to Derek’s face, he may have broken in a time or two as a teenager because he was young and stupidly intrigued by shit he should've left alone. But this--this will be the first time invited inside.

He knocks and Caleb answers the door. “Hi! Dad said you're coming to help us with the Funny Dirt!”

“Did he?” Stiles says in amusement. “Well I'm here to try and save the day. Can I come in?”

Caleb takes his hand and pulls him inside before slamming the door closed and flipping the lock. “Dad’s cleaning the bathroom upstairs because he said it’s disgusting but he probably heard you get here. He told me I could answer the door since we know who you are.”

“Stranger danger,” Stiles agrees, but gets a wrinkled brow in reply. “It means being careful of people you don't know,” he explains.

Caleb’s already leading them through the living room, and when Stiles concentrates on it, he can feel the little buzz of energy coming from under the couch. It actually doesn't feel so small. It seems like he has a fairly large store of Ash squirreled away under there. More than enough for an emergency. It’s probably enough to fill a soda can, or three.

Derek meets them at the top of the stairs with Maisy in a little harness contraption on his chest. She's munching away at a few rattling rings of plastic.

“Hey, thanks for coming,” Derek says, sounding grateful. He’s peeling off some yellow rubber gloves and tucking them into his back pocket.

“Of course, no problem,” Stiles says, trying his absolute hardest not to smell aroused because it's so embarrassing when wolves can smell your every mood. And Derek looks hot with a baby strapped to his chest!

He needs a distraction!

“So which way to the wonderful bedroom that needs some help?” Stiles asks Caleb.

The kid perks up. “This way! This way!” Then he takes off running down the hallway.

Stiles and Derek follow at a more sedate pace.

The room looks comfy and clean, with a twin-sized bed on one side of the room, and a playpen under the window. There’s also a dresser, a toy box, and a little area in the corner of the room devoted to a small race track and some matchbox cars.

“This is a pretty awesome room,” Stiles says, because he can see Caleb’s hopeful look.

The kid practically beams at him. “Daddy said we can maybe paint it green because that's what I want. He said he could paint a dinosaur on the wall.”

“Did he?” Stiles says, raising his eyebrows at Derek because he is impressed.

Derek just rolls his eyes like it’s no big deal, but he’s blushing just the slightest amount and it makes Stiles want to kiss his cheek! “I took a few art classes in college. It wouldn't be that difficult.”

“Derek, trust me, I’d be impressed if you could paint a straight line. I suck at all things artsy except for when it comes to drawing wards and runes on things. That's the sole reach of my artistic capabilities.”

“But you could paint magic then,” Caleb says with wide eyes.

Stiles laughs, “Yeah, I guess I could. But okay, let’s look at this bed situation.”

The bed is on a wooden frame that leaves a gap between the floor and the bottom of the frame roughly a foot high. Plenty tall enough for a toddler to crawl under it.

“You could put a storage container of it under the bed,” is Stiles’s first thought. “Maybe duct tape it closed so Maisy won't open it?”

“But what if I need to get to it?” Caleb asks.

Derek huffs. “I thought you just wanted to be able to feel is, pup. Now you want to play with it?”

“What if there’s an emergency?” the kid whines.

“Then your Aunt Laura and I will rush in and take care of it,” Derek says like it’s final.

But Stiles is already looking for another answer. “Do you know what the floor is like under the carpet? Like floorboards or tile or whatever?”

Derek shakes his head. “We haven't bothered to pull up carpet from anywhere. We’re just vacuuming the dust up as best we can and airing out rooms one at a time.

“You could put it in the floor possibly,” Stiles says, “but it might be a lot of work, and I don't know if there would be any issues of the floor breaking way if you left a hollow space underneath the floorboards.”

“I couldn't touch it if it's in the floor!” Caleb says, appalled by the idea. He crosses his arms in a pout.

Derek pulls his son against his leg and pets his head. “We just need Maisy to be safe, pup. Funny Dirt is very poisonous to werewolves.”

“But I could make it safe!” Caleb argues.

“You won't always be in the room,” Derek says calmly. “What if she gets in it when you're not nearby?”

“Then I'll come up as quickly as I can,” Caleb says petulantly.

“Caleb he’s not saying you can't have it,” Stiles breaks in, because he can see this devolving into a worse argument. “We're just brainstorming the best ways to do it.”

Caleb sighs like everything is unfair. “I need to be able to touch it if there’s an emergency.”

Stiles gets down on the floor to peek under the bed. The frame has slats running across it and he can see the bottom of the box spring under the mattress. It has some holes in the cloth at the bottom like it’s gotten caught on something while being moved into the room.

“Is the mattress a spring or one of those fancy foam ones?” Stiles asks.

“Spring. We didn't need to buy new mattresses.”

“Okay, weird suggestion,” Stiles says as he gets up again. “What if we cut a small slit in the mattress. And let Caleb slip the Ash directly into it? Maisy shouldn't be able to get into that and Caleb could wiggle it around in all the space throughout the mattress when he needs to. If you keep the fitted sheet covering the hole, it shouldn't be easy for any Ash to fall out and we could make the slit in one of the corners at the foot of the bed where he’s not likely to accidentally send it.”

Caleb looks thrilled. “Then I could take it out if I needed!”

“Only for emergencies,” Stiles says as sternly as he can. “I get it because I've used Mountain Ash to save my Pack too, but you have to remember it's still a dangerous thing for wolves to be around.”

Caleb frowned at that. “Not if I'm using it.”

“But what if someone else got a hold of it?” Stiles asks, because this is kind of a big deal.

“There are bad magic people here?” Caleb asks, looking worried.

“Not that I know of,” Stiles says, “at least not right now. But even if there were no bad magic people anywhere, you still would have to keep this stuff away from Maisy because we don't want her to try and play with it while you're not around.”

“Babies are curious about things,” Derek says patiently. “Maisy’s getting into things a lot more now that she's walking some. We need to protect her from stuff because she doesn't know when things are dangerous.”

“And we can't tell her to leave it alone?” Caleb asks.

“Exactly. She doesn't understand yet,” Derek agrees. “She'll understand someday, but it’s going to be a while.”

Caleb huffs a sigh, his frown resembling his father so much. But he finally throws up his hands. “Fine! I won't play with it in bed!”

Derek throws his eyes heavenward like he gives up.

“So slit the mattress,” Stiles says, “yay or nay?”

“Neigh!” Caleb giggles, whinnying like a horse.

Stiles laughed. “It means you disagree. Do you disagree with my idea?”

Caleb stops laughing. “No! I want the Funny Dirt in my bed with me!”

Stiles looks to Derek, who sighs because he’s a pushover when it comes to his kid's.

“Fine. I'll allow it for now or until we come up with a better idea. But the Funny Dirt stays in your mattress or I'll get Stiles to take it out!”

Caleb looks at Stiles with a fake wobbly chin and some serious puppy dog eyes. “You wouldn't do that, would you?”

“Oh yes I would,” Stiles says calmly. “I told your daddy I would do it for the couch too if he ever needed me to. We’re serious about this stuff being dangerous.”

“But it's not dangerous with me!” Caleb practically shouts, sounding so annoyed to be reminding them of this.

“Caleb Nathaniel Hale,” Derek says in warning. “If you want the Funny Dirt, you follow my rules or it gets taken away. Understand?”

Caleb grabs his dad’s leg. “No! I'll be good! Please, Daddy!”

It seems to only take one whimper from the kid’s chest, then Derek’s rolling his eyes and waving a hand.

Caleb races off and they listen as he stomps down the stairs.

“If this doesn't work, I seriously will remove it,” Stiles says quietly.

“He keeps saying he can make it safe for Maisy. And I think he could probably make it safer, but I just can't risk it,” Derek says. “She’s just a baby.”

“Would you rather stick it under the floor where he can't bring it out?” Stiles asks. “Liam works at Home Depot and Isaac’s pretty good with fixing house things. They could figure it out.”

Derek considers it, absently letting Maisy play with his fingers when she reaches for them. “I don't know…” he says eventually. “He saved my life back in New York. And he has such good control of it, especially with how all over the place he usually is with everything else.”

“He’s still only six,” Stiles reminds him.

“But I don't think he’ll feel safe if he can't get to it. You should've seen the way he woke up this morning after we fell asleep on the couch last night. I haven't see him wake up smiling like that...maybe ever. He was so...happy.” Derek shrugs weakly. “I don't know if I can take that away from him now that he knows he could wake up like that again.”

Stiles sighs, because Derek clearly just wants his son to be happy, but he can see why the man is worried. “Have you considered putting Maisy in her own room?”

“I will eventually, but only once she’s fully mobile and talking probably. When she can tell us when she needs Pack around.”

“Hence the playpen?”

Derek shrugs, “I haven't made it out to buy a crib yet, but she loves this thing enough that I haven't been too worried about it. We’ll get there eventually.”

“I imagine you've been busy with cleaning this place up,” Stiles says. “Don't worry. I'm not judging you for not having a crib yet.”

Derek gets this awkward look on his face and looks away. “I also...um...have been avoiding using my credit card because I wasn't sure how many cops have been looking for me since New York…”

Oh shit.

“I hadn't thought about that, actually,” Stiles says. “My dad would have mentioned something if your name came up along official channels, but...so you want me to get him to ask around? See if there’s anyone trying to reach you?”

“I don't know,” Derek says slowly. He's still avoiding Stiles’s eyes and letting Maisy gnaw on his finger. “Laura said I wasn't a suspect. The Pack we were with in New York apparently moved her body so I'm hoping the cops wrote it off as a freak animal attack.”

Then Derek tilts his head like he’s listening to something, and nods. “Apparently Laura’s going to call the pack and follow up for me.”

There’s a clatter of little footsteps racing up the stairs, so Stiles doesn't bother to reply with more than a, “Good. I'm sure it will be fine.” (And he really hopes he isn't lying about that. Derek deserves some good news.)

Caleb enters the room with a large pile of ash cupped in his two hands that would have toppled in an instant if it were any other substance like sand or dirt.

“What happened to ‘just a little’?” Derek asks his kid in exasperation.

Caleb shrugs like he’s innocent and doesn't have at least two full measuring cups of ash in his tiny hands. “There’s plenty under the couch for a circle to keep all four of us in. This is what was left over.”

Stiles shakes his head and tries not to look as amused as he’s feeling. “That is way overkill, my man.”

“What's that?”

“It means that's way too much,” Stiles explains.

“But it's enough for a circle for Maisy and me.”

“And the rest of the entire house,” Stiles tacks on. “How are you making circles? You can't possibly need that much. Also, Derek I can't believe you have that much Ash in your house, much less with apparently twice that under your couch. What the heck?”

Derek shrugs like he has no idea what Stiles means. “When we left New York I just grabbed all of what she had in the pantry.”

Caleb is frowning like he’s been insulted. “You have to have lotsa Funny Dirt for a good circle. You can't leave holes in it.”

“Can I--” He turns to Derek. “Will it offend you if I show him something? Because this is ridiculous. I can't let this go on. I barely have more than that amount of Mountain Ash in my entire possession, and I'm the emissary of a pack of ridiculously trouble-seeking creatures.” His arms are waving when he gets to the end. This is ridiculous!

Derek looks amused at least. “Uh, yeah sure, I guess.”

“I won't make a circle around you,” Stiles assures him.

Which is when Laura leans against the doorframe and crosses her arms. “What’s going on?”

Stiles only doesn't jump because he's mostly been trained out of that reflex through sheer application of stupid pranks a la Scott and Isaac’s infamous Three-Month Prank War.

He smiles as calmly as he can. “Just gonna show Caleb something about Mountain Ash because it seems like he’s missed out on one of the best properties.”

“Then you won't mind if I watch?” Laura asks, but it doesn't sound like a request. More like a...threat? Stiles trusts his gut.

He glances at Derek, who quickly stifles a deadly glare he had been aiming at his sister. So yeah, maybe a threat. But that’s okay. He’s fine. He’s been threatened more overtly by alpha werewolves before and he’s got more than plenty Mountain Ash in reach to protect himself if Laura comes at him.

Unless Caleb does that thing he can apparently do and makes it inert to his family members. That would suck.

Stiles makes sure his grin is still present and steady and focuses back on Caleb instead of the Laura situation he can't fix. He's probably not in danger...right? Caleb likes him. He would probably help Stiles out.

“So the first thing I learned about Mountain Ash--”

“Funny Dirt,” Caleb butts in.

“Exactly,” Stiles agrees, then recovers. “The first thing I learned about Funny Dirt is it has a funny way of turning into more than enough for whatever project you need. The first time I used it, I only had a handful of it.” He slips a bit off Caleb’s pile to show him an amount that barely covers his palm. “And I had to use that little bit to circle a building.”

“A building?” Caleb gasps. “Like a house?”

Stiles thinks about the Jungle and wants to shudder at the idea of people living there. Although some of the regular kind of act like they do. “Sure. Like a house. So...since I didn't know what I was doing very much, I closed the ash--Funny Dirt--in my fist and started letting it drop out.”

Stiles closes his hand around the Ash he’s holding and starts trailing a little bit on the floor as he walked around Caleb, making a small circle around him.

“I closed my eyes, and I believed really hard and by the time I got back to the start of my circle, the Funny Dirt was still falling out of my hand.”

“You circled the whole house?” Caleb asks with big eyes. “Was it hard?”

“Eh, kinda, because I was trying to believe it would work and because it was my first time. But it did work. That's the thing. And ever since then, I haven't needed nearly as much as you are carrying right now, my man. You've got enough for a handful of houses right there.”

Stiles starts making his second circle around Caleb, a few inches farther out.

Caleb looks down at his hands, still full of Ash, doubtfully.

“When you met me, you said I had a little bit in my pockets, remember?”

Caleb nods.

“I drop a little bit in all my pockets for emergencies, but I probably had only a tiny bit that day. But then when I pulled it out, I had enough for us to both play with.”

Caleb frowns quizzically. “How did you do that?”

“How have I made my little bit of Funny Dirt go around you three times?” Stiles asks with a shrug, because he’s almost done with the third circle and moving towards the fourth.

“But that’s more than you took from me.” Caleb sounds perturbed. And his eyebrows are doing that thing that makes him look like his father.

Stiles smiles and just stops walking, letting a steady stream of Ash fall from his hand into a pile by his foot. “That's magic, my man. It doesn't always have to make sense.”

Caleb drops the Ash from his hands on the ground and steps out of the circles. He pries Stiles’s hand open. There’s a small amount in Stiles’s hand that then falls to the floor.

There's at least double the amount of Ash that entered the room with Caleb earlier. And the kid looks absolutely baffled as he gets down on his knees to inspect it all.

Stiles glances at Derek to make sure he hasn't just freaked out the werewolf he’s been crushing on so hard. But Derek’s watching calmly, like maybe this isn't as much of a surprise to him as it was to Caleb.

Laura’s frowning, but Stiles hasn't figured her out enough to be sure of the interpretation he should be making.

“It doesn't feel different,” Caleb says at last.

“It shouldn't,” Stiles replies. “It’s all Mountain Ash. I just kinda teased it into stretching out a bit more.”

“Can you teach me how to do it to?”

“If your dad and your alpha say so, then absolutely.”

Caleb immediately hops over to Laura like he knows who’s gonna be the harder sell.

Stiles uses the distraction to quietly “unstretch” the Ash because there's no way Caleb needs that much in his bed. Then he quietly tucks some of it into his pockets because even with the amount Caleb brought in the room, it had been a little much and Derek had looked a little pinched when he saw it.

Derek shoots him a grateful yet exasperated look when he sees the ash slipping into Stiles’s pockets but he doesn't comment aloud and risk catching Caleb’s attention. He just quietly gets with the program and tugs the little mattress away from the wall and pulls the fitted sheet off the corner closest to the wall. He quietly makes a slit with one claw and lets Stiles direct the ash in his hands into the little hole.

Stiles wiggles it around until it's in the middle of the bed. “Want to get some duct tape to close up the tear so he can’t play with it?”

Derek rolls his eyes. “He would too, with that little trick you just taught him. He's gonna want to play with this stuff all day long until he figures it out.”

Stiles winces. “I didn't think that through.”

“No kidding,” Derek snarks back, but at least he's smiling so he's probably not mad. “It’ll work out though. Maybe I'll hear the duct tape if he tries to take it off.”

“Maybe just get some velcro if you wanna hear it.”

\----------

Stiles leaves the Hales’ house before Caleb gets official permission to train with him. He only worked his way up to a ‘maybe’ before giving up on the begging in order to roll around on his bed and giggle hysterically at the Ash that was wriggling along with him. Stiles would have to admit it was one of the cutest things he's ever seen. He feels a little like Derek and Laura are missing out by not being able to feel the way the Ash is dancing and wriggling at Caleb’s whims.

Stiles excuses himself from the house by admitting he’s supposed to be back at the shop in an hour and he still has to check the wards around the Northern edge of the territory. He checks different spots every few days because it's too big to feasibly check all in one easy go. Wards take a little more care than that. The Pack runs the territory lines daily, on a rotating schedule, but Stiles is the only one who can recognize when a ward has been tampered with or needs a little boost of magic to keep working at optimum levels.

So he gets back in the jeep and heads further into the Preserve. He’ll have to hike a portion of it, but he can at least get closer before leaving the jeep for his slow legs.

He’s just settling into the familiar rhythm again, walking up to his third ward of the day, when Laura slinks out from the trees and stops to watch him. He’s a little surprised by how unsurprised he feels.

“Can I help you?” he asks pleasantly. He's glad he has his cell phone in his pocket and fully charged. He’s also got all that extra ash in his pocket from raiding Caleb’s stash too. He’s good. He’s safe. Even if there’s something in Laura’s stance that makes him feel nervous.

“I’ve seen the way you look at him, you know,” Laura says.

“What way?” He tries to act confused, but it’s probably a lost cause. “And at whom am I looking?”

She rolls her eyes. “Don't play dumb. We both know you're smarter than that.”

“All right,” Stiles agrees in an even tone though he’s forcing his heart to stay calm. “I don't see why it's such a big problem. I'm just looking. I'm not doing anything.”

“But you are,” Laura argues, taking a step closer. “You're flirting and helping with whatever he asks you to do. He doesn't need a new relationship right now. He’s barely started recovering from the last one.”

Stiles winces, but then considers her position. “Is it more an issue of him being in a relationship so soon after Jennifer or is it more of an issue of my being able to work with magic?” He’d rather know what he’s actually dealing with here.

Laura walks closer, silently and like a predator. Stiles kind of wishes Scott were here. But then again he would have probably already popped his claws and they don't need that with Derek’s alpha. Not when Stiles wants to keep Derek and an inter-pack-battle would probably cause him to lose any opportunity at that.

Laura comes to a stop only about a foot away from Stiles. (He forces his body to not step back. He's well-familiar with werewolf intimidation tactics. He’s fought Isaac for the last Cinnabon and won before. This is doable.)

“What do you want with my brother?” Laura demands plainly.

Stiles shrugs. “Maybe like a date? Some hand-holding and cheek-kisses if he is amenable to the idea. I get that we would have to take it slow if he even thought about me the same way I think about him--especially with the kids in the picture. I know he wouldn't want to start something only to have them get upset if it didn't work out.”

Laura frowns like she’s confused. “You're worried about the kids?”

“Well...yeah! I mean, the idea that Derek could be interested in me back is like laughably out of reach as far as my luck usually runs but if I were to get the chance I know I'd have to win the kids over just as much as I would have to win him over because like he’s such a good dad and I wouldn't ever want him to have to ignore them to be with me. I've never dated anyone with kids but I know Maisy and Caleb are like Derek’s whole life and that’s great. I wouldn't change that ever. The kids are amazing! I mean like Caleb is seriously like exactly who I would have been friends with as a kid. I could play with him for hours. And Maisy is adorable and arguably the cutest werewolf I've ever met. Have you seen those tiny golden eyes when she’s excited about something?” Stiles throws up his hands.

Laura tips her head to the side and narrows her eyes. “Why my brother? Why not anyone else in this town? Someone less messed up?”

Well Stiles can't put up with that, can he? “He’s not messed up!” he argues. “Having a past doesn't mean you're broken forever. Baggage is normal, I’d say even expected in most relationships. And sure that baggage usually isn't evil-Druid ex-girlfriend but it's not like Derek’s the only one with history here--not that I'm explaining all of my history to you right now because honestly you'd have to be a level-three friend to unlock my tragic backstory and let’s face it, you and I are barely at a level-one!”

She looks a bit like he’s lost her.

He crosses his arms to mirror her stance back at her. “And as far as what do I see in your brother? Well, he’s an amazing dad. And seeing as I spent most of my formative years being raised by a single dad I think he’s doing an incredible job and it’s surprisingly hot--not that you needed to know that part. But also, he's sweet...when he isn't being an asshole. But I'm kind of an asshole myself sometimes so I think that could even out. And he has a ridiculous mix of humor that's like half dad-jokes and half just dry as dust snark that I sometimes miss for a moment and then catch later like a punch to the gut.” Stiles sighs, because how much does he really have to say here? “And besides, so much has happened, it's like...it’s like there shouldn't be any way he’s still standing but he’s so strong that he’s kept going for his kids and for himself and he’s still fighting. You know? Like he should've turned into a villain at this point but he’s still sweetly smiling at babies in the diner and quietly telling Allison what to expect when having a tiny werewolf baby grow up in your house.”

Stiles doesn't bother to go into how amazing it is that Derek is even still trusting people enough to try and be chill with the Argent in their Pack. Even after everything. He should be running still, probably, but he’s not. He’s having quiet conversations with Allison during Pack dinners even though he looks nervous every time she initiates conversation with him. And he’s stopped eyeing Chris every five seconds too! Sure he hasn't let Chris play with his kids yet, but he seemed like he was getting closer. He let Chris read some books to all the kids at the last Pack night, though he only let the Stiles’s dad hold Maisy during the impromptu story time.

“So you really like him,” Laura says slowly. She sniffs and makes a face. “You smell like more than lust.”

Stiles makes a face. “First of all: gross. He’s your brother. I don't wanna talk about that with you. Second of all: no kidding? I'm not really a tap them and leave them kind of guy. Strictly a pine forever and then bury myself in a monogamous relationship if possible kind of guy. So yeah, I want more than sex.”

“You want a relationship,” Laura says.

“Yes, I do. And if he’s not ready for that, well I'm not gonna push him. That's why I haven't asked him out yet. I can wait. I'm great at pining, just ask Scott...or like anyone in the Pack actually.”

Laura studies him for a long and excruciating moment. She must come to some sort of decision because her eyes flash a crimson red and she tells him quietly, “So if we say I believe you…”

Great. He already wants to roll his eyes.

She smirks at whatever his scent must spell out for her. “If you really do want a relationship with my brother, then a little warning won't be remiss.” At that, she leans in close, face almost right next to his and quietly says, “You will never take advantage of him physically, emotionally, or magically in any way, or I will hunt you down and castrate you.”

“Okay, okay,” Stiles says with a weak chuckle that is completely forced. “Shovel talk noted. You’re protective of your brother. You don’t want him to get hurt. I feel you.”

“I don’t think you do,” she says. Laura leans in further. “If you ever,” she breathes into his ear, “so much as look at him in a way that he does not explicitly consent to...I will rip off your balls with my bare hands and force feed them to you. Do you ‘feel me’ now?”

He fights so hard not to pull away, but he’s pretty sure her teeth are too close to his throat to get far. He’s so so so close to going for the Mountain Ash but he’s a little afraid any movement will sic her on him.

“Yeah,” he shakily agrees. “I feel you. Got it. Understood.”

She finally pulls back, but now she’s grinning at him and it is the most terrifying sight he’s ever seen. “I wouldn’t use my claws either, by the way, much too quick. They’re very sharp. No, Stiles, I would probably have to use my fingernails and just...work at it for a while.”

He feels himself go slightly more pale, though he didn’t think it possible at this point. He might literally faint in a second here.

She smirks and pats his cheek. Then she slinks away like she doesn’t have a care in the world.

It takes a long while for Stiles to calm down enough to move. Longer still for him to feel comfortable getting back in his jeep.

He doesn't open the store on time that afternoon.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles finally asks Derek out. And Derek and Laura have a slight argument--I'm sorry! Slightly pushy Laura still in this chapter.

By the time the Pack Night is fully in swing, Stiles has mostly decided Laura isn't looking for reasons to rip his balls off. It doesn't help his heart from trying to leap out of his chest when he opens the door to let the Hales in though.

Laura smirks. Derek frowns at his chest momentarily like he’s worried about Stiles’s reaction to seeing them. The kids don't seem to even pick up on it. Caleb’s already asking about the Lego tub and Maisy is mumbling a questioning, “Pa? Pa, pa, paaaa?” that Stiles has a sinking feeling is short for ‘Grandpa,’ because his dad is a piece of work and a bit baby-obsessed.

“Come on in!” Stiles says with a grin, because he knows Laura at least won't attack him here in front of the kids. Also he’s done nothing wrong! So there! No need to hurt the Stiles!

The look in her eyes when she slides past him though…

Best to stay on the alert and be absolutely careful with all interactions with Derek for the night.

Fortunately his dad meets them almost as soon as they entered the house to see Maisy. So at least there is a distraction.

“She’s started popping her claws,” Derek tells him apologetically. “We’re still not sure what all might set her off so--”

“Nonsense!” His dad waves Derek’s protests off, already reaching for the toddler.

She's reaching back too, with a repetitive, “pa, pa, pa, pa…!” that's growing louder.

Derek stabilizes her without effort and keeps her close. “I really don't know, sir…”

“She’s a baby,” his dad says flatly. “She can't hurt me.”

Derek looks to Stiles for help.

“Nope! I'm not getting in the middle of that,” Stiles says with raised hands. “Do what you feel you need to do but I can't convince him that ‘no baby’ is a good option. In case you haven't noticed, he kinda likes her.”

Derek rolls his eyes. “Gee thanks. Not like I just want to leave tonight without any bloodshed or whatever.”

“Her claws have to be tiny,” his dad argues like the size is all that matters. “She won't hurt me. And besides, it’s not like if she pops some claws I can't just hold her out away from my chest and call you over to calm her down.”

“He speaks the truth,” Stiles agrees. But then he remembers Laura is watching them and waiting for him to coerce Derek in nefarious ways and he decides to play it safe. “But you're her dad of course, so you get final say. You know her better than anyone.”

Derek frowns at him a little like he’s confused.

“Come on, Derek,” his dad weedles. “We’ll be nearby. You'll hear it if there’s a problem.”

Derek has to readjust her weight when she squirms and reaches for Stiles’s dad again. “She can't control it yet,” he says unnecessarily. “If something sets her off she can't help it.”

“And no one here will hold it against her,” his dad says calmly. “No one. She’s a baby. And she needs hugs and walks like all the other babies.” Clearly he wants to be the one divvying out said hugs and walks.

“If she gets cranky, you should call me over just in case,” Derek says, but he’s clearly giving in.

His dad gets that look in his eyes. The one that Stiles usually gets when his dad is done putting up with his shit and about to tell him off. “Derek Hale, give me the baby.”

And there it is, the sheriff voice.

Derek rolls his eyes, but he does surrender his child. So Stiles’s dad is clearly fine with that. He takes Maisy and presses a kiss to her little round cheek while she babbles happily at him. He doesn't even thank Derek--just waltzes off with Derek’s daughter without even an acknowledgment, already firmly entrenched in his baby-time focus.

“I'm not getting her back tonight, am I?” Derek asks.

“Almost no chance,” Stiles admits. “Probably not even if she popped a claw. He would just coo and tell her she has the most adorable and strong little claws he’s ever had the pleasure of seeing, and maybe feed her part of a cookie to calm her down.”

“It’s not a bad plan,” Derek admits, but he’s smiling so at least he's not upset at the idea.

It's quiet for a brief moment between the four of them. Then Caleb spots the Lego tub already pulled out into the living room for his pleasure and darts off to build something. Maybe a dinosaur castle like last time. The silence suddenly feels a little more awkward without the support from Derek’s kids, with Derek glancing at the Pack around them and Laura not so subtly staring at Stiles whenever Derek might not notice.

“Hey, Alli!” Stiles calls out as Allison waddles by. Whatever’s showing in his eyes must distract her enough from her destination even though she’s probably tired and wanting to sit down. Allison is a good bro. She will rescue him.

“Hey, Stiles,” she says with a grin, like he hasn't been in her home for the last two hours. “Hey, Derek. And I haven't officially met you yet, but I'm Allison, Scott’s wife.” She extends a hand to Laura as well as a smile.

Laura only hesitates for a brief moment. “Laura...Hale,” she says as she shakes the hand offered to her.

“Allison Argent-McCall,” Allison says calmly, but Stiles can see the slight tension in the corner of her eyes, like she knows this might not be good.

Laura’s calmer than Derek was though. She doesn't even flash her eyes. “Scott’s told me a lot about you.”

Allison grins and rolls her eyes. “As long as he didn't recite poetry I think we can call ourselves lucky. We’re trying to break that particular habit.”

“Nonsense!” Stiles fake-gasps. “The one about your hair in the moonlight was actually decent.”

Allison laughs and grabs his arm so she won't lose her center of balance. Things have been a little off for her in that regard with the extra weight in her belly for the last two weeks. “Oh god, please don't ever repeat that. Don't encourage him! He tried to write a poem about my toes yesterday during breakfast, Stiles. My toes. Even I don't like my toes enough for that and they make it possible for me to walk.”

Stiles has a sudden urge to find his best friend and just laugh in his face. “What can you say? He’s a romantic at heart. Just wait until the baby’s here and all his poetry attempts are going to be focused on my perfect godchild in here,” he says, touching a careful hand to her tummy.

She doesn't even slap his hand away, though hormones have caused her to do it a time or two before. Instead she sighs so hard it makes Stiles tired and says, “I don't think I'm ready for the craziness that is about to be my life, but let’s be real if this kid doesn't come out of me soon I might go crazy.”

Stiles can almost feel the Hales tense up beside him, and Allison must notice it too because she immediately does her thing of disarming tension that she seems to have a gift for.

“Derek, don't lie to me--do werewolf babies have super strength in the womb? Because I swear this little one kicked me so hard last night while I was sleeping that it almost bruised Scott. He or she might be prepping for a very successful boxing career as we speak.”

Derek winces. “That bad, huh?”

“That bad,” Allison says tiredly. She takes hold of one of Derek’s hands and places it on the side of her stomach. Stiles watches as Derek’s hand moves with what he assumes is a baby kick.

Derek smiles softly, and a trail of black runs up his arm.

Allison gasps.

Derek immediately removes his hand. “Sorry! Habit! It just...when Jennifer was pregnant I used to do that for her all the time. Sorry.”

“I'm not mad, Derek,” she says with a little smile. “I was just surprised. The Pack’s been going around doing the same thing for months. I wouldn't have jumped if I wasn't so tired. It’s exhausting growing a baby, but it's more exhausting when it feels like they're fighting to break out.”

“Don't worry,” Derek says with a calm smile, “you won't have an Alien moment. He or she doesn't have super strength and they won't be busting out of you no matter how much it feels like it.”

“So when do I need to worry about super strength then if this is normal?” Allison says with a little laugh. “I've been meaning to ask you but I've been a little nervous to know the answer.”

“It won't happen until they're about five or six, and even then it's going to be a gradual thing,” Derek assures her. “They won't just wake up one day with twice their strength and start breaking things all over the house.”

“How gradual are we talking here?” She sounds like she's readying for a battle.

“They won't be much stronger than humans their own age until they hit puberty. That's when the strength really starts kicking in.”

And that’s when the hormones really kick in…! Allison’s eyes go big, and she takes in a big gulp of air like she's fighting back tears. “Oh god,” she hums. “So this is really just normal baby strength? It's gonna be like this every time?”

Stiles takes a step closer to her so she won't be able to see the hand he starts waving behind her back, eyes locking on to Boyd’s across the room and sending the signal that they need Scott. Now.

Boyd winces and turns to go find him.

“Hey you're almost done,” Stiles fellas Alli soothingly. “You've only got what, a week to your due date? You can do this,” he tells her, cautiously putting a hand on her back and hoping she won't fully cry before Scott can come get her. He’s weak and he doesn't know how to deal with tears.

He looks to the Hales for help, but Laura looks almost as terrified as he feels and though Derek looks sympathetic he’s not making any move to help.

“I just want my baby to stop trying to beat me up,” Allison says, and there's a tear falling now. “And I want to hold them and kiss their head!” She's getting closer to a full cry now.

Stiles looks and Scott's making his way quickly across the living room to retrieve her.

“Allison,” Scott says, and that’s it, game over. She’s crying. But at least Scott is there now. He gathers her up in a gentle hug and lets her cry into his shoulder, waiting until she can't see his face to mouth ‘thank you’ at Stiles for sending Boyd.

In no time at all, Scott has bundled her off to their bedroom and Stiles is once again left alone with Derek and Laura. So he invites them into the kitchen to grab something to drink. Derek accepts a soda and Laura goes for one of the wolfsbane infused beers.

Then Erica comes into the kitchen, compliments Laura’s shoes and the next thing Stiles knows, Laura is being dragged away to go meet Boyd.

He can't help feeling relieved. Then he realizes Derek is looking at him again, one part confused and maybe two parts amused.

“What did she do?” Derek asks, a little twist to his mouth.

“What do you mean?” Stiles asks innocently.

Derek rolls his eyes and taps Stiles’s chest twice. “This doesn't lie. Laura did something--or said something. What was it?”

Stiles pretends his heart hasn't been beating faster ever since Derek touched him. “Nothing! It’s fine.”

“Fine,” Derek repeats flatly.

“Uh huh.”

“If it were fine you wouldn't have sounded like you were having a heart attack when you saw us.”

“Maybe I was excited to see Caleb,” Stiles argues.

“Only if your excitement smells an awful lot like terror,” Derek argues right back.

Stiles rolls his eyes. “Fine! We had a short talk earlier today in the woods while I was checking some wardes. Suffice to say she played the role of protective alpha and talked to me about keeping her pack safe.”

“Or she gave you the shovel talk and threatened bodily harm if you so much as smiled at me,” Derek says with a little quirk to one eyebrow.

Stiles feels his jaw drop. “What? No, I mean, why would she--what?”

Derek smirks like he’s reading the lie in his heartbeat. Cheating werewolves. “I do know my sister a little bit. I know what she’s like. And trust me, shovel talk or no, she won't do whatever it is she threatened to do to you. You're fine.”

Stiles isn't so sure of that, but he’s also not so sure he wants to have this conversation continue either so he holds his peace on that front. Then something hits him.

“Wait,” he says, “you know she gave me a shovel talk, so like, have I been way too obvious? Or been making you uncomfortable?”

And Derek blushes. “No, not at all. Not that.”

Well isn't that interesting.

Derek shakes his head. “Sorry I'm really out of practice with...all of this.”

“All of this?”

And Derek’s blush goes deeper…! “Flirting.”

“Oh,” Stiles says lamely, because his insides might be combusting. “Well uh, we can definitely practice. If you'd like. We can practice that. Some.”

“Some?” Derek teases.

“Shut up,” he snarks back. “I'm nervous too, so what. I haven't gone on a date in at least a year and a half, and haven't been in an actual relationship in a while.”

“And I've been in a relationship for six years but remember it way less than I probably should,” Derek counters.

Stiles makes a face. “Maybe we should take it slow? See what happens?”

Derek smiles softly. “I’d like that.”

“Um, would you like to go out for dinner next week? Like maybe Tuesday?”

“Tuesday would be good.”

“Great.”

“Yeah.”

Then they stand there and smile like idiots for a few minutes until the food arrives and it's time to dive into the fray.

\----------

John ends up holding Maisy through dinner that night. He frowns at Derek when he makes to grab her, and then promptly gets to fixing her a plate of little pizza chunks to eat. She doesn't even seem to miss her daddy throughout the whole meal.

But it gives Derek more time to focus in on Stiles across the table from him, so maybe that’s nice.

Stiles chats with Caleb for a good portion of dinner. It's a huge point in his favor that he gets along so well with Derek’s kid. Derek wouldn't have agreed to the date without knowing his kids at least liked who he wanted to date.

Erica and Boyd end up at their table for dinner that night, and Erica chats easily with Laura about all sorts of things that Derek mostly didn't bother to listen to. But he notes her not-so-sneaky attempts to stare Stiles down whenever there was a lull in the conversation. He pretends he isn't watching her, but when he definitely catches her staring he casually kicks her under the table. Hard.

She glares.

He gives her an innocent look.

And later Stiles shoots him a grateful smile.

The table disbands quickly when the food is no more. Erica drags Boyd over to talk to Isaac and his girlfriend. John steals Maisy away to practice her walking, though Derek is sure he sees the man wince when he first leans down to set her on the grass. When Stiles is running a pile of trash from the table to the garbage cans with Caleb’s help, Laura pinches him in the side.

“What did you do?” she hisses quietly.

“What?”

“You two have been making eyes at each other. What did you do?”

He rolls his eyes. “I agreed to a date on Tuesday.” Might as well get it out there ahead of time. She would have known soon enough anyway.

“A date? Derek! Already?” She looks aghast. Like this is a bad thing.

He forces a biting smile to the surface. “Yeah already. He’s nice, I like him, so why not?”

She looks from him to across the yard at Stiles and back. “Why not?” she whispers. “You've only been single like a month. Don't you think it’s a little early?”

“Oh don't talk like what Jennifer and I had together was a relationship!” he whispers back harshly. “I might as well have been single for the last seven years because let me tell you I definitely never loved her--not sure I even liked her. We were only together because I literally had no idea to not be. And yeah, maybe it would be nice to go on a date already since I haven't been allowed to be attracted to anyone in oh...well ever since Caleb was conceived. Even then, I'm not sure she didn't do something to pull me in because she was only barely my type.”

He stands from the table, ready to storm off, but suddenly he’s not done. “And you know, maybe for once it would be nice to try a date with someone that I think honest to god actually likes me as a person, because it’s not like I've had much experience there.”

Laura winces. “Derek…”

But he doesn't stick around to listen.

He heads for the kitchen because he doesn't know where else to go. But John snags his sleeve and says something about the diaper bag and a smelly toddler. If he were any calmer he would notice Maisy smells fine but he isn't, so he grabs the diaper bag and follows John upstairs to the baby room.

John closes the door behind them and just pushes Maisy at his chest. Derek gathers her up and just breathes into her for a long moment. John’s hand settles on his back, a comforting weight.

It takes an embarrassingly long time for Derek notice that Maisy smells fine, and then it clicks that John brought him up here just so he could hide from Laura. He pulls his face back from Maisy’s head. She’s clinging to his shirt, rumbling something like a tiny pur against his chest.

“Damn that's cute,” John says, petting a hand down her back.

“Pa!” she cheers, turning to him.

John squeezes his shoulder. “You've only got her until you calm down fully. Then I'm stealing her back. You get her all the time. I only get her once a week.”

Derek huffs out a weak laugh. “Is that right?”

“You better believe it,” John says easily.

He claps Derek on the back. “So, couldn't help but notice the tension down there between you and your sister. Everything okay?”

Derek rolls his eyes. “Yeah. She just...she doesn't trust me to make my own decisions apparently.”

“Maybe she's trying to protect you,” John suggests.

“Oh she is,” Derek says, “but she sure doesn't need to. Not with this.”

“Well...she’s your alpha, right?”

“Yeah?”

“And alphas are the protectors and leaders of the pack, so it would be natural for her to be trying to lead you into doing what she thinks is best, right?”

“Right.”

“So maybe she deserves to be cut a little slack,” John says, shrugging. “As a parent, I would love to get my son to live however I want him to. But he’s Stiles so that will probably never happen. He’s gonna throw himself in front of danger no matter how many times I tell him he's being stupid.”

That does sound kind of right with Derek’s mental image of Stiles.

“The point is, I still get the urge to tell Stiles how to live, and I accidentally unload my advice on him more than he would like. But he and I both know he’s an adult now and he’s gonna make his own decisions. It doesn't mean it's any easier for me to let go though and not tell him what I'm thinking.”

“But we’ve both been over this now,” Derek says. “She knows my side and I know hers, but it's my decision what I do now and she doesn't seem to care.”

John sighs a little. “And what decision are you making that she doesn't agree with?”

Derek hesitates. (Would Stiles mind him telling? Would he be upset?) “Well um, Stiles kind of asked me out…?”

John looks at him in surprise. “What? Tonight?”

Derek knows he's blushing but he can't stop it. “Uh, yeah.”

“And what did you say?”

“I said yes.”

John breaks into a smile that looks so happy it almost hurts. “Good.” He clears his throat. “That’s real good.”

“Um, thank you.”

“When are you two going out?”

“Tuesday.”

John shakes his head, but he’s still smiling. “Really puts me in a crunch. I thought he might fiddle around another few weeks. Hm. I'm gonna have to move things along.”

“Excuse me?” Derek asks, more than a little confused.

“Well I've got to ask Melissa out for a date before Tuesday now. And we’re both working Monday. I'll have to see what her Sunday is like. I can't let Stiles lord this over my head.”

John catches himself, and maybe he realizes what this all might sound like, because he laughs and puts Derek on the shoulder. “No, no. He--I was making fun of him the other night for being too scared to ask you out and he threw it right back in my face. But maybe it’s time I talk to Melissa. And if I can get her to go out with me before Stiles goes out with you then I can hold it over his head for a while.”

He’s grinning a little manically when he finishes explaining. It occurs to Derek that John might just be a little competitive overall, not just when it comes to out-grandpa-ing Chris Argent.

“I should talk to her now,” John says with a smile. Then he looks at Maisy. “I’ll uh, just…”

And he casually slips her out of Derek’s hands like he hasn't just taken a werewolf cub from its parent and prances away. Derek’s too thrown to even argue.

Stilinskis. What even are they.

\----------

Laura finds Derek just as he reaches the top of the stairs to head back downstairs. He rolls his eyes at her guilty expression and leads her into the baby room so they can at least pretend to have some privacy.

When the door is shut behind them he stands in the middle of the room and crosses his arms. He tries not to look defensive but he knows he's not doing so well with that.

Laura looks like shit, so at least there's that. And she smells like she did that one time she wolfed out as a teenager and ripped up his favorite book. So she at least feels bad about what just happened between them.

“I'm sorry,” Laura says eventually, breaking the silence.

Derek wants to sigh and ask her what she's actually apologizing for. But he knows staying silent will annoy her more and right now he’s not above being a little petty.

She rolls her eyes because she knows exactly what he's doing. But she also continues apologizing. “Look, I just...with everything that’s happened I'm freaking out a little bit at the idea of you dating a magic-user.”

He raises his eyebrows as if to say, And?

“And I get that he's not Jennifer. I get that he plays nice with the kids, but I just...I don't want to see you hurt like that again. I couldn't protect you last time.”

He does sigh then. “So you figure you're better off just cutting this off ahead of time so I can't even see if there is something real here?”

“Derek….”

“You've seen him with the kids. He adores Caleb. He has spent hours playing dinosaurs and Legos with him. He lights up when he sees him. You can't fake something like that.”

“I know,” Laura says quietly. “But him liking your human and magic-wielding kid is a little different from him liking your broody werewolf self. You know?”

“I like him, Laura,” he says.

She snorts. “I know, I keep smelling it on you every time he’s mentioned.”

“Shut up.” Derek pushes her, but gently so they don't end up sparring and breaking the McCall’s house.

“Just, tell me this,” she says, “why him?”

Derek blushes because he can't help it. “I don't know,” he says reflexively, but then he tries to put it into words. “It's like, the first time I met him he was just so...good. He was good with Caleb and he helped me stay calm when I almost lost it because I had no idea Chris Argent was a part of this pack. And then it was just, well, I just started noticing little things and realizing how attractive he is. I mean have you seen his hands?”

Laura fake gags.

He grins. “You asked.”

“I don't wanna know what parts of Stiles turn you on. I just wanna know why you're risking it all to go on a date with him.”

“I'm not risking it all,” Derek says calmly. “I'm not saying he’s the one and you should start helping me prep the house for another person to move in. I'm just saying I like him. I really do. And who knows if things will work out between us. I have no guarantees either way but I want to try. I want to see what's there. I mean, Laura the last years with Jennifer are such a blur I barely believe I actually lived them. It's like looking back on a foggy dream. I remember pieces, mostly related to the kids. The kids are the only thing I really remember clearly. But my relationship with Jennifer? It's like…” he shook his head, “just a patchwork of random moments.”

“So you feel ready to date,” Laura says quietly. He's not sure if it's a question.

“Yeah, I think I do,” he says. “And who knows, maybe we'll both be bored out of our minds and decide we don't want to bother with a second date, but…”

“Not likely,” she surmises. She looks a little chagrined.

“Probably not,” he agrees. “I want to give it a shot.”

“Okay. Fine,” she grumbles. “Run free and make your own dumb decisions.”

He smiles because she's not as upset as she’s pretending to be.

“But if he hurts you I will probably kill him.”

Derek groans. “Laura! We’re in the middle of a Pack Den. Shut up!”

\----------

When Derek and Laura make their way downstairs, John is sitting on the loveseat with Scott’s mom, Maisy in his lap mouthing at a Lego block. Melissa and John are staring at each other and smiling like teenagers on a first date, so Derek assumes John’s already asked her out.

He works fast.

Derek and Laura settle on the floor near Caleb (who is building a castle for the dinosaurs) because there's never enough seats for the whole pack during these nights and half the pack always ends up spread around the living room floor anyway.

The couch is already settled by Chris Argent, who is reading to a sleepy Abigail. The little girl is curled up in his lap and looks almost ready to fall asleep. There's an open spot in the middle of the couch, probably for Allison when she returns because no matter how many seats are taken there is always one comfy spot left open for the Alpha’s pregnant mate. The last spot on the couch holds Boyd, with Erica splayed across his lap and resting her head on his shoulder.

The rest of the pack is making their way into the living room as if by some unspoken call.

By now Derek knows them all by name even if he hasn't had more than a small passing conversation with some members of the pack still. He likes to watch them all interact though, and notices little clues as to who has known each other longer. Like how Isaac and Stiles almost never end up sitting near each other, and sometimes Isaac tries to claim a spot closer to the Alpha but Stiles looks slightly annoyed every time it happens. Jordan Parrish makes sure John has something to drink when he grabs a drink for his own wife and himself. (Tonight he hesitates, before handing Melissa what Derek is sure was meant to be his own drink, before going back to the kitchen for another glass.) Jackson almost never acknowledges Parrish, but seems to be good friends with Allison and is one of the few pack members that Derek has never seen her slap for touching her belly uninvited. Allison doesn't initiate physical contact with most of the pack like a usual alpha’s mate, but she will lean into Lydia’s space without thought and rest her head on the woman’s shoulder when she’s tired. Boyd rarely talks louder than a low hum unless he’s talking to Erica or Isaac. Erica’s not shy with anyone, and talks as loud as she wants seemingly all the time, except she whispers to Allison’s belly sometimes.

There's a group within the pack that seems slightly less integrated, like they're newer. Lacey, Mason, and Liam are in high school so maybe the age keeps them separated a little bit. Susan and her sister Karen are in their thirties and hold themselves ever so slightly apart from the pack, and still hesitate slightly when the pack moves as a group to do something, like they used to have another pack before and they're still getting used to this one. Danny is in and out, sometimes there on a Friday night and other times not. Tonight he’s at some work convention, Derek overhears Jackson telling Lydia. Kira acts new to the pack. Her parents have attended one Pack Night that Derek has been to and they seem nice but they don't act like part of the pack. Isaac’s girlfriend is still feeling out where she fits into the group, still clinging to her boyfriend a little too much to fully integrate herself.

The pack is young but they fit well together. There are no struggles for power. Everyone bows to Scott’s leadership except when Scott is letting Stiles call the shots. When members have differing ideas they are at least discussed and decided upon instead of ignored as some Alphas of other packs would do. They discuss any issues or creature sightings every week to make sure the whole pack is aware and included in the plan. And twice now Chris Argent has alerted the pack to hunter movement in order to be prepared for possible visits. He seems calm and truthful when he tells about hunters moving their direction, and it seems like he intends for the pack to avoid their notice.

When Scott and Stiles join the pack in the living room, they both pause and look at their parents sitting so close on the loveseat. Stiles narrows his eyes at his father like he knows exactly why John made a move tonight, and John stares back with a smug look before happily propping Maisy up so she can practice standing in his legs.

For a moment it looks like either Stiles or Scott might comment, but Melissa gives them a single, harsh, raised eyebrow and they jump to pretend they're ignoring the fact that their parents are almost cuddling. They focus instead on the large map that they roll out onto the floor. It's a map of the McCall territory--that's easy to see. But Derek notes that the map looks specially made, it’s not just a map of the city that someone bought. It shows the Pack territory boundary as well as seemingly all of the important places for the pack members marked and noted. Along the boundary line there are almost two dozen markings made in a vivid green color. It takes Derek a moment to translate that into probably being the wards Stiles and Scott have mentioned. The Sheriff’s office and Stiles’s store are marked as well as homes for each of the members.

The clearance next to the Hale house is marked as “sparring grounds” though the pack hasn't used it for sparring ever since Derek came to town. He wonders if they stay whether they will start using it again or change the map.

“All right,” Scott says decisively.

And that's all it takes for the pack to silence themselves. Conversation dies almost instantly.

Then Stiles slaps his alpha on the leg and hisses, “Your wife!”

Scott jumps and heads for the bedroom to retrieve her. Stiles rolls his eyes across the living room floor at Derek and explains. “She refuses to miss the meetings no matter how tired she is and she would have his head for letting her sleep through it.”

It takes a few minutes for Scott to grab Allison. Derek politely doesn't listen in, but he sees Erica start giggling against Boyd’s neck and Isaac winces like he's heard something terrible.

When Scott arrives back in the living room he helps his wife sink into the couch and Jackson brings her a ginger ale to sip on. Then the meeting gets started.

“All right,” Scott starts again. “First order of business, rotations for running the boundary. I’m going to keep myself on rotation unless Allison goes into labor, so if I need backup Isaac has offered to cover for me as needed.” He turns to face Laura. “We um actually wondered, Laura, if you or your brother would like to run boundaries with us and get used to the area.”

Laura looks a little nonplussed. It's her first meeting with the pack and they're already inviting her to take part in running the territory.

Derek probably should've mentioned when Stiles told him the other day, but he'd forgotten. Whoops.

“You can think about it,” Scott says awkwardly.

“No,” Laura says quickly, “sorry, you just...that seems quick to invite us to take part.”

Scott shrugs. “Stiles trusts you two. And honestly he’s a much harder sell than I am.” (A few of the members of the pack hide snorts and smirks like it's a running joke.) “Besides, Derek’s been here almost a month now, and usually that's when we start inviting new members to join in with regular Pack business to get used to how we do things and see how we mesh.”

“Well then…” Laura says carefully, “we would love to be included. Of course. Just let us know when and where to be.”

Scott nods. “We run the boundaries in pairs, but for now I'll have you join in with a pair so you can see how we work. We do a quick run of the line daily, and a slower check of the boundary and preserve once a week. Laura I'll have you run with Erica and Boyd on Mondays if that works for you. They can swing by the house to meet you. They'll get with you on what time exactly but we usually run the boundary in the evening.”

She nods and glances at Erica who gives her a grin and a wave.

“Derek, if you don't want to run because of the kids that's ok.”

“No it's fine,” he says. “So long as Laura is home with them I'm okay with joining in.”

Scott smiles. “Awesome. You can run with Kira and Jackson. They go on Thursdays.”

“Around seven,” Jackson adds.

“Sounds good,” Derek accepts. He hasn't spent much time with Jackson or Kira yet but they both love Abigail and have talked to Caleb a few times--enough for Derek to know they like kids. It's at least something in common, if nothing else yet.

“Great,” Scott says. “Otherwise, rotations stay the same for this week unless there's an issue?” No one raises any. “Okay, next order of business, Stiles says he caught sight of a pixie in the preserve yesterday.”

A groan goes up from the crowd.

“Yeah,” Stiles jumps in. “That's pretty much how I reacted.”

“So here’s what we’re doing,” Scott says and Stiles turns on a laser pointer to direct everyone’s eyes to the map.


	18. Chapter 18

On Sunday, Derek receives a text from John that probably shouldn't sound as smug as it does.

First date accomplished! Melissa loved it.

That's all it says. Derek’s not even sure who gave John his number. He doesn't ask though, just sends a, Glad you had a fun time, back at him and leaves it at that.

\----------

Stiles picks Derek up for their date on Tuesday. He's dressed in nice jeans and a button down shirt, though Derek can't decide if long sleeves is a disappointment because he can't see Stiles’s tattoos that way. It'll leave more emphasis on his hands though, so there's that.

Derek had put up with all the ribbing Laura gave him as he tried to get ready for this date. He has a much smaller wardrobe than he’s used to, and had to settle for one of his nicer henleys and his best pair of jeans. She made fun of him for trying to fix his hair nicely without gel. It probably won't last, but at least he tried.

“You look good,” Stiles tells him when he opens the door. He’s blushing a little and fiddling with the sleeves of his own shirt.

Derek knows he's probably blushing too when he says, “Thanks. You look nice too.”

Then Caleb slips around Derek’s legs. “Where are you gonna eat?” And the awkwardness is mostly broken.

Stiles grins down at him. “Hey buddy! I'm not sure yet where we’re eating because I'm gonna let your dad pick. How's the Funny Dirt in your bed? Still acting funny?”

“It's the best!” Caleb announces, waving his arms around. “Last night I got it to stretch a little bit and then I had two handfuls instead of one!”

“Nice!” Stiles high-fives him for his achievement.

It ends up taking Laura two minutes to come and retrieve Caleb so they can leave. In that time, Stiles hears all about how Maisy has a tooth now and she's been fussy for days so Caleb can't play with her a lot because she gets ‘claw-y’ (Caleb’s wording) but they think there might be a cat living under their porch so Caleb has been spending this days trying to coax it out with milk and treats because cats are just as scratchy as his sister but they like to be pet more than Maisy does.

And through it all, Stiles laughs and talks to his kid like it all matters and never once looks bored or impatient. Derek has a growing suspicion that if Laura hadn't finally come and just picked him up, Caleb and Stiles could have talked through the night.

Once they're alone, the awkwardness does come back a little bit, but Stiles rolls with it and they end up discussing the merits of Italian food versus burgers and steaks for dinner. True to his word Stiles lets Derek pick. And Derek hasn't had a good burger in a while so they end up at an unassuming restaurant that feels comfortingly casual.

“Have you been here before?” Stiles asks him as they take a seat.

“No, we haven't gone out much since moving here. I think we’ve eaten at the diner and some fast food places,” Derek admits a little ruefully. “I've gotten a little tired of cooking.”

The waitress comes and takes their drink order, and conversation easily shifts. Stiles ends up telling Derek about how Scott got bitten as a teenager when they were hiking in the woods looking for a body because bodies had been turning up around the area with claw marks and bite marks that the authorities were only somewhat convinced was a mountain lion.

“So you decided to take on a possible mountain lion?” Derek asks flatly.

Stiles holds up his hands in defense. “We were fifteen. It was the most exciting thing that had happened in Beacon Hills since we were born!”

“Exciting?”

“Well at the time it seemed exciting. Looking back, it was pretty dumb. But things worked out I guess.” Stiles shrugs. “Turns out the there was a feral alpha in town. He bit Scott while we were in the woods, and then ended up biting Isaac, Erica, and Boyd before Chris showed up with some buddies. He figured out pretty quickly that Scott had been bitten and had no idea what he was doing. He actually put us in contact with another pack who answered some questions for us because we were seriously freaking out.”

“I'll bet.”

“The alpha was killed only a week after he bit Scott and things got a little crazy for a while before we figured out about the others being bit. Eventually we banded together and I got to work figuring shit out.”

“The pack Chris got you in contact with,” Derek says, “did they try and overrun Beacon Hills?”

“How did you know?”

“Pretty standard actually,” Derek says. “If a territory is claimed by a fledgling pack it's not unusual for a more established alpha to try and take it over. I can't imagine they thought the territory would be safe under a few loose betas.”

Stiles inclines his head. “Yeah well they didn't. So we ended up with a fight on our hands and four werewolves who barely knew how to pop their claws only on command.”

“So how did you make it?”

Conversation flows easily from there. It’s not a perfect first date. First dates are probably almost never ‘perfect.’ But it’s good--great even. By the end of the night, Derek feels sure that he could very easily fall in love with this man. It’s a heady feeling, but he is not afraid. For once, he’s excited to see what his future holds. He feels good about Stiles, and good about being here with his family in Beacon Hills.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's a wrap, folks! I've got some sequels already thought out, some of them more focusing on the sterek of this sterek fic series...sorry! I got wrapped up in the kids in this fic and spent my time focusing on Derek as a dad. Later fic installments can focus more on Stiles again.


End file.
